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Citing Electronic and Other "Unusual" Sources

Library Catalog (Quick Search)

Click on the "Citation" option under "Cite and Share." 

Click on your preferred citation style and copy/paste the citation into your bibliography. Be sure to check that the information as correct, as the library catalog sometimes makes mistakes. Since the library catalog contains multiple types of sources (books, videos, articles, etc.) be sure that your citation uses the proper formatting for the source type.

This is an APA style citation for a book. The formatting is good, except that it lists the author twice!

This is an APA style citation for an article. The formatting is good, except that the publisher's name (Sage Publications) and the place of publication (Beverly Hills) should not be included.

Access World News (NewsBank)

Click on the quotation mark icon above the article title. Click on your preferred citation style under "Copy Citation Information."

Copy/paste the citation into your bibliography. Be sure to check that the capitalization and other information are correct, as the database often gets these wrong.

This is an APA style citation generated by Access World News. The article title has a capitalization error ("Listening" should be in lowercase); the periodical title should be written as The Beacon Villager; the "p." for the page number is not required; and the name of the database is not required.

A better citation would be:

McLean, D. (2013, January 31), Just listening - Children come to library to read to the dogs. The Beacon Villager, 1A. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.libproxy.unl.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/14434C7CB411B640.

Alexander Street Press Video

Click on "Cite" or "Cite this video." Use the dropdown menu to choose your preferred citation style. Copy/paste it into your bibliography. Be sure to check the citation details, especially the author/producer, as the database sometimes gets things wrong.

This is an MLA style citation generated by Alexander Street Press Video. Since this is a feature-length film, the title should be italicized and not in quotation marks. Only the director needs to be credited. There are numerous punctuation and capitalization errors throughout the citation, and the database name (Alexander Street) should be italicized.

A better citation would be:

Lincoln and Lee at Antietam: The Cost of Freedom. Directed by Robert Child. Janson Media, 2005. Alexander Street, https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/lincoln-and-lee-at-antietam-the-cost-of-freedom.

EBSCO Databases

Click on "Cite" in the right-hand column of the item record. Note that there is a separate link to the article's permalink, if needed.

Scroll to your preferred citation style and copy/paste the citation into your bibliography. Be sure to check that the capitalization and other citation information is correct, as the database sometimes gets things wrong.

This is an MLA style citation generated by Academic Search Premier. The author's name should not be in all caps; the word "with" in the article title is a preposition, so it should not be capitalized; since this is a newspaper article, it does not need the volume and issue numbers; and the actual database name should be cited, not the general publisher (EBSCOhost). 

A better citation would be:

Harris, Elizabeth A. "A Mind-Reading Dog? Ask the Girl with Cat Ears." New York Times, 6 Apr. 2017, p. A21. Academic Search Premier, http://libproxy.unl.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=122326949&site=ehost-live.

Google Scholar

Click on "Cite" under the article record in the Google Scholar search results. Find your preferred citation style and copy/paste the citation into your bibliography. Be sure to check that the capitalization and formatting are correct. Note that Google Scholar's auto-citation feature does not include the article URL, so be sure to find and add the URL to your citation.

This is an MLA style citation generated by Google Scholar. The article title's capitalization is incorrect, the volume/issue/date formatting is incorrect, and there is no URL/DOI included in the citation.

A better citation would be:

Jiang, Wei, Yue Huang, and Aimin Sha. "A Review of Eco-Friendly Functional Road Materials." Construction and Building Materials, vol. 191, 2018, pp. 1082-1092, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.10.082

Naxos Music Library

Naxos Music Library doesn't have an auto-citation feature, but you can use the link button to see the permalinks both for the album and for each individual music track.

Nexis Uni (formerly known as LexisNexis)

Click on "Export Citation" (a blue box) under the document title.

Use the dropdown menu to choose your preferred citation style. Copy/paste it into your bibliography. Be sure to check that the capitalization and formatting are correct, as the database often gets things wrong.

This is an APA style citation generated by Nexis Uni. The elements of the citation are in the correct order, but almost every element is formatted incorrectly!

A better citation would be:

Wigandt, H. (2021, December 20). A hurricane made Tom Petty realize he met George Harrison for a reason: 'My life was different after that'. Newstex Blogs: The Cheat Sheet. https://advance-lexis-com.libproxy.unl.edu/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:64BJ-TBT1-F03R-N54G-00000-00&context=1516831.

ProQuest Databases

Click on "Cite" near the top right corner of the page.

Use the dropdown menu to choose your preferred citation style. Copy/paste it into your bibliography. Be sure to check that the capitalization and other citation details are correct, as the database sometimes gets things wrong.

This is an APA style citation generated by Ethnic NewsWatch (a ProQuest database). This citation is good overall, except the article title is in all caps and the page numbers are left out.

A better citation would be:

Davis, V. T. (2015, July 10). Members of the LGBTQ community sound off on Supreme Court ruling. The Indianapolis Recorder, B1-B2. http://libproxy.unl.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/members-lgbtq-community-sound-off-on-supreme/docview/1698385732/se-2?accountid=8116

Scopus

PLEASE NOTE: As of December 21, 2021, Scopus's auto-citation feature is out of date and does not use the most recent versions of the APA, MLA, Chicago, or Turabian style manuals! You can use the information below to get started with creating citations, but please check with the Purdue OWL or another trusted source to make sure your citations are following the latest guidelines.

 

Click on "More" near the top of the page, then click on "Create bibliography."

Use the dropdown menu to choose your preferred citation style and then click "Create bibliography." A new tab will open with the citation so ou can copy/paste it into your bibliography. Be sure to check that the capitalization and other citation details are correct! 

UNL DigitalCommons (Digital Commons)

The UNL DigitalCommons institutional repository does not have an auto-cite feature. The documents in the DigitalCommons generally include some citation information, but you will need to create the full citation on your own based on the requirements of the citation style you are using.

For example:

Web of Science

Web of Science does not have an auto-citation feature (that we know of). You will need to create the full citation on your own based on the requirements of the citation style you are using.

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