Record all citation elements as you select sources. Print Internet documents and note their URLs and websites' titles. Photocopy book excerpts and add page numbers and publication information.
Begin your list of references by choosing one source. Decide what kind of source it is. For example, is it a TV transcript or a journal article?
Find an example of how to cite that type of source in your style guide. In printed guides, search the index and table of contents to find examples in the text.
Look at the first element, such as author, in the style guide sample. Find the corresponding element in your source. Write down the element in the exact format shown in the sample.
Repeat with the other elements. Pay attention to punctuation, numbers, spaces between words and capitalization.
Check your completed citation against the example in your guide.
Take detailed notes if you don't print or photocopy a source. Record facts and ideas exactly as written and enclose them in quotation marks.
Write your first draft without looking at your notes. Express ideas in your own words.
Give credit to facts or ideas that aren't yours in your second draft. For instance, lead into an author's idea by writing "According to Jane Smith." Then paraphrase Smith's idea. Enclose an author's exact words in quotation marks.
Add an in-text citation to refer your reader to the source in your list of sources. Follow your style guide's examples for in-text citations.
Compare the words in your text to the exact quotations in your notes. Make sure you have avoided using a writer's exact words or phrases unless they are enclosed in quotation marks.