Subject Guides

Guide Contents

Resources

Primary Sources 

Materials that were created during the time under study, and feature the vice of someone who participated in or witnessed an event. Primary sources can also be published or unpublished

  • memoirs
  • personal diaries
  • drawing, photos & more

Secondary sources

  • reference books
  • textbooks
  • scholarly articles & more

 

Citation Help

As a scholar, you cite sources:

  • To give credit to the authors and works your consulted
     
  • Enable the reader to locate those sources
     
  • It is an issue of academic respect and courtesy; and because
     
  • Failure to do so can lead to punishment under Binghamton University's Code of Academic Honesty.

Your professor may require that you use a certain citation format, such as APA, MLA or Chicago Style.  If they do not require a specific format, select the format you are most comfortable with and use it consistently throughout your paper.

For more information, see the following sources:

  • Citation Help:   Links to citation guides for MLA, APA, and Chicago Style.  Locations for the official style manual for all these styles, plus many more.
     
  • Plagiarism and Academic Honesty:  Information about Binghamton University's policy.  Also provides help, tips and tutorials and how to avoid plagiarism in  your work.

Note:  There are many citation style cheat sheets and guides available online. Use these with caution.  Both APA and MLA have recently been updated, and many online cheat sheets do not reflect these chages.   In addition, many of these guides are not complete, and can contain errors.

When in doubt, consult the official syle manual.  These also contain information how to format a paper (headings, spacing, font, language, etc).

How to read a citation (from Cornell Libraries)