Brief notes on sources appear in the text as citations, providing immediate source information without interrupting the flow of argument. A citation usually requires only the last name of the author(s), year of publication and (sometimes) page or chapter numbers. The page or chapter numbers must appear unless the reference is really to the entire work as a whole.
The simple author-date citation is an abbreviated way of referring to the work itself. Think of it as a kind of short title. No comma separates the two elements:
Citations direct attention to the more detailed references, which provide complete source information to aid further research. Include no reference that is not actually cited. Be careful to refer to the most recent edition of each book used.
The examples that follow show proper forms for common kinds of references. List all references alphabetically by author. Give the full first name, instead of an initial, unless the author is widely known by the first initials. Double-space between entries and indent all lines after the first in each entry. When there are several works by the same author, place them in chronological order, with the earliest publication first, repeating the name of the author with each new entry.
Kessel, John H. 1968. The Goldwater Coalition: Republican Strategies in 1964. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.
The author's name and date - the bits of information in the citation - appear first, followed by the book title, place of publication, and the publisher. If the city is well-known, there is no need to identify the state (or DC). Use postal acronyms for states (MA, OH). Chapter and page numbers should be in the citations, not the references.
Sorauf, Frank J., and Paul Allen Beck. 1988. Party Politics in America. 6th ed. Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman.
Hermann, Margaret G. 1984. "The Party Organization and Its Activities." In Approaches to the Study of Party Organization, ed. Willian J. Crotty. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Do not use a form analogous to this one for a chapter in a single author book. Rather, indicate the whole book and specificy the chapter in the citation.
Ball, Terence, James Farr, and Russell L. Hanson, eds. 1988. Political Innovation and Conceptual Change. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Note that the first author's name is listed with the last name first while the remaining authors are listed first name then last name.
For more detail, see Kate L. Turabian's Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations, ch. 12.
Congressional Reports and Documents. The reference begins with U.S. Congress, followed by any committee, year, title, Congress, sessions, and report or document number of committee print number. Include bills and resolutions and publications by commissions in this category.
U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations. 1956. The Mutual Security Act. 84th Cong., 2d sess., S. Rept. 2273.
U.S. Congress. Senate. 1934. Report of the Federal Trade Commission on Utility Corporations. 70th Cong., 1st sess., S. Doc. 92, pt. 71A.
Aldrich, John H. 1980. "A Dynamic Model of Presidential Nomination Campaigns." American Political Science Review 74:651-69.
The article title takes headline capitalization regardless of how it was handled in the actual journal. Allow no space between the colon and the page numbers.
References to popular magazines require only the author, year, article title, magazine title, month, and day (for a weekly or bimonthly).
Prufer, Olaf. 1964. "The Hopewell Cult." Scientific American, December.
Dissertation or Thesis
Munger, Frank James. 1955. "Two-party Politics in the State of Indiana." Ph.D. diss. [or masters thesis]. Harvard University.
Paper Presented at a Meeting
Mefford, Dwain, and Brian Ripley. 1987. "The Cognitive Foundation of Regime Theory." Presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago.