Citation Guide

Tools for Creating Citations

MLA or APA?

In general, we use MLA9 as our citation style at Colegio Roosevelt, but if your teacher asks you to use APA, here is why:

Differences between APA and MLA: 

APA puts a greater emphasis on dates. The date of a source goes right after the name of the author (or article title) in the full citation and in the in-text citation. 

APA requires only the first initial of the author's first name.

APA requires that all authors be listed up to FIVE authors. After five, use "et al".

APA uses "p." before page numbers

Annotated Bibliographies

A bibliography is a list of sources (books, journals, websites, periodicals, etc.) one has used for researching a topic. Bibliographies are sometimes called "References" or "Works Cited," depending on the style format you are using (APA or MLA, respectively). A bibliography typically includes only the bibliographic information (i.e., author, title, publisher, etc.) for each source, presented in an alphabetically organized list.

Works Cited: is the term for the list of sources actually documented (paraphrased or quoted) in your project, generally through parenthetical citation. All of the parenthetical references in the paper or project should lead the reader to this list of sources.

An annotation is a summary and/or evaluation of a text, image, or other media. Therefore, an annotated bibliography includes a summary and/or an evaluation of each source. Generally, an annotated bibliography stands on its own and is not attached to the back of a paper. Depending on your project or assignment, your annotations may include some of the elements listed below.

Parts of an Annotated Bibliography:

1. Citation

2. Summary: 

   • Summarize the main ideas of the source.

3. Usefulness: 

   • Evaluate the usefulness of the source for your research

4. Reliability:

   • Is the source timely?

   • What potential biases exist?

Think of your Annotated Bibliography as a "review" of each source that helps you and your readers understand why you selected it.

Glossary of Terms

• Annotated Bibliography - Full source information with explanation about the source: its benefits and limitations, how the information will be used, or whatever else the researcher wants to show about the source. An excellent way to keep track of sources and their value during early research stage

• APA - American Psychological Association style of formatting, used in the Sciences and Social Sciences; Emphasizes the date of publication

• Appendix - A section at the back of paper that may include supplementary material; does not contribute to the word count. More here.

• Bibliography - A list of all sources consulted for a paper; less common for IB since not all sources are cited in the paper

• Citation - Names the source where information was found; there are various types of citations.

• Footnote - A way to add extra information without impacting your work count; information goes in the footer automatically

• In-text Citation - Source information included in the flow of a sentence

• MLA - Modern Language Association style of formatting, used throughout FDR and generally in university for Humanities; Emphasizes the author versus publication date

• Parenthetical Citation - Source information included inside parentheses 

• Reference - As a verb, to refer or point to a particular source or idea. As a noun, the shortened version of a source where information was found.

• References - The title for the page of sources used in a paper in APA format

• Works Cited - The title for the page of sources used in a paper in MLA format