table of contents | Introduction

How to Cite The Sextant

You may freely use of The Sextant as a resource in your own academic work, but we ask that you please cite correctly.  Since the 1990s the various style manuals available had included guidelines for citing electronic journals such as The Sextant.  In general, these citations resemble those for traditional print journals, with the major exception that electronic sources are not consistently pagination.  The current consensus recommends using paragraphs in the article as internal subdivisions.  Most manuals also point that the citation should include the date the source was accessed.  This is done generally because the locations of electronic sources, and quite often the contents, sometimes change.  Following the example of the University of Virginia's Essays in History, we have included sample citations in several different formats of an article from The Sextant:

American Psychological Association (social sciences)

American Psychological Association (APA) style is prevalent in the social sciences. It prefers internal citations and gives prominence to the date of publication.

Internal citation

(Wright, 2006).

In addition, when using APA style, the citation will refer to paragraph numbers only when directly quoting the source material.

List of References

Wright, Laura (2006) "A Road Paved with Fear: The Post-War Allied Breakdown," The Sextant [On-line serial], 4/5. 55p Available: http://sextant.cnu.edu/Wright.htm

Chicago Manual of Style (CMS)

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) style is used in history and in many other humanities fields. It prefers notes.

Note at first citation

1. Laura Wright, "A Road Paved with Fear: The Post-War Allied Breakdown," The Sextant 4/5 (2006) <http://sextant.cnu.edu/Wright.htm> [30 June 2006], 23.

Note at subsequent citation

2. Wright, 40.

Bibliography

Wright, Laura, "A Road Paved with Fear: The Post-War Allied Breakdown," The Sextant 4/5 (2006) Available: <http://sextant.cnu.edu/Wright.htm> [30 June 2006]

Modern Language Association

Modern Language Association (MLA) style is common in the study of languages and literatures, as well as other humanities fields. It prefers internal citations. For more detail, see the MLA's website at www.mla.org.

Internal citation

(Wright, 40).

List of works cited (Please note that the citation includes the length of the article in total paragraphs.)

Wright, Laura, "A Road Paved with Fear: The Post-War Allied Breakdown," The Sextant 4/5 (2006): 55 pars. 30 June 2006. <http://sextant.cnu.edu/Wright.htm>

The style of citation you use will depend on the course or publication for which you are writing.