The Ohio State University

What is a bibliographic citation?

A bibliographic citation serves two purposes. First to inform the reader exactly where the writer has taken material or ideas cited in the text of the article. The second purpose is to provide the reader with sufficient information to locate the source.

Examples of 2 citation styles

A complete bibliographic citation for a journal article usually consists of the author and title of the article, the journal title, volume, issue, page numbers and the date of publication. Abbreviated citation styles are also used and citation styles vary by academic discipline. Below are examples of a complete bibliographic citation for a journal article as well as an abbreviated citation for the same article.

Pacheco, Michael A. and Christopher L. Marshall. "Review of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) manufacture and its characteristics as a fuel additive." Energy & Fuels 11(1): 2-29, 1997.

Pacheco, M.A.; Marchall, C.L. Energy Fuels 1997, 11, 2- 29.

For information about other citation styles, including guidelines and examples for citing internet resources see Citation Style Guides.

Step 1:

Many of OSU's research databases have a Find It! button. Clicking on this will check for online access, print holdings, or link to interlibrary loan to request items not directly available to OSU users.

Step 2:

Search OSCAR to see if OSU has a subscription to the journal. Once connected to OSCAR make the following selections and then enter the complete unabbreviated title of the journal.

• Format or location search;
• ALL SERIALS (including e-journals);
• Title

HINT: By selecting the ALL SERIALS format, you are searching a subset of the OSCAR database that simplifies identifying journals available at OSU. Remember to return to the full database if you need to search for books or other non-serial materials.

HINT: If the journal title is abbreviated, you must locate the full title of the journal. Below are two reference books that will help identify the full journal title from the abbreviated title.

Periodical Title Abbreviations: By Abbreviation. 10th ed.

Z6945 .A2 P47 10th ed. SEL Reference Desk

Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index (CASSI)

Z5521 .A3 SEL Reference Desk

Step 3:

Record the call number and the location or library where the volumes may be found. Clicking on the location in OSCAR will give you details about where it is. Items listed as OSU Depository may be requested (click on Request this Item) for delivery to any campus library location or a campus office/dorm.

Not all subscriptions begin with volume 1 and cancellations do happen.

HINT: Because very few libraries subscribe to every item in an index, it is a good practice to identify more citations than you require for your assignment so that you will not need to perform another search if OSU does not have some of the journals you require.

NOTE: Issues of journals are temporarily unavailable for approximately 1 month while they are in the process of being bound.

Last updated: 15 May 2008

Please send any comments or suggestions to: SEL Page Master