ARH 382 ART OF THE SILK ROAD WINTER 2004

Proper Forms of Citation

Several people have asked me about the proper form for citing your sources. I can give you some brief information here, but for a fuller discussion of the various forms for various kinds of publication, check one of these two sources (available at Smith's, I expect): Turabian, Kate. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Barnet, S. A Short Guide to Writing about Art.

The book by Barnet is also a very helpful resource for learning how to talk about and write about art....

When you cite an article or a book as a source, you can (for me) use one of the following forms:

1. Citation in the text : Place author, date of publication, and page in parentheses, before the final puctuation. For example, "Some scholars have referred to the finds at Karadong as extraordinary (Baumer, 2000: 95).
2. Citation in a foot or end note : at the end of the sentence or paragraph in question, place the correct number referring to the note. The first time you cite a source, it should be in full, i.e. Author (First name, last name), Title of source (Place of publication: publisher, date), p. The second time you cite that source, use a short form, i.e.: Author's last name, date of publication: page.

Articles are a bit more complicated to cite. Please check Turabian or Barnet for that information.

Web-sites: give web address.

Remember: the citation of other sources is necessary when:

1. The idea is someone else's.
2. The words are taken from another author
3. The subject you raise is controversial.

You DO NOT need to cite a source if you are referring to

1. An historical fact, without dispute (i.e. it is general knowledge, even if you didn't previously know it....)
2. Your own ideas.

Use direct quotations ONLY WHEN THE ORIGINAL SOURCE SAYS SOMETHING IN A WAY THAT IS ESSENTIAL TO YOUR ARGUMENT. Use indirect quotations whenever possible...that means that you will restate the opinion of another and cite that source...but the words are yours. Here is an example:

Direct quotation:
Sir Aurel Stein has written that the "names of the superintending priests recorded in a third document 'leave little doubt as to the nationality of the monkish establishment'" (Stein, quoted in Hopkins, 1984: 86).
Indirect quotation :
Sir Aurel Stein believed that the names that he found recorded in a document from Dandan-ulik indicated the nationality of the religous community (Hopkins, 1984: 86).

Bibliography: All your sources should be listed in a final bibliography, in which the sources are organized alphabetically by author's last name. The citation must be complete, i.e.: Author's last name, first name. Title. Place of publication: publisher. Date of publication.

Here are some notes from a writing guide for another course; they would apply here, also.

1. Papers should be completed on a computer or, at the worst, on a typewriter. No handwritten papers are accepted.
2. Lines should be spaced 1.5 and font should be between 10 and 12.
3. Margins: at least 1" on both sides and at the bottom.
4. Organization: In the first paragraph, state your thesis clearly and succinctly. In the body of your paper, develop the evidence to support your thesis. At the end of your paper, bring your discussion to a conclusion, indicating whether your thesis has been supported, qualified, or contradicted by the evidence.
5. When you refer to written sources, please use the system used in the Social Sciences or Sciences. This works as follows: when you need to cite a source, include the last name of the author and the publication date in parentheses and before the final punctuation mark .: Here is an example of wishing to direct the reader¹s attention to a particular source:

   Among the many scholarly discussions that have attempted to interpret Scythian religion by reference to a central core of goddess worship, Abayev¹s discussion has been particularly interesting (Abayev 1962).

   Here is an example of pointing out specific ideas held by one or more specific scholars:

   Despite the lack of excavations in western Mongolia, some scholars have surmised that the Afanasyevo population spread from the Russian Altai and the Minusinsk Basin across Western Mongolia (Novgorodova 1989, 81-84).

   And here is an example where the writer draws on other publications in order to support her thesis:

   Indeed, the burial context reiterates principles of belief, economy, and social status that may otherwise have been forgotten or even rejected within the lifetime of the dead person but which nonetheless serve to confer social legitimacy on both individual and society (Jacobson 1987, 6­7; Pearson 1982).

   At the end of your paper, you will have a ŒList of Sources" or "Sources Cited". In this list, you will list the sources alphabetically by the last name of the author, e.g.:

   Jacobson, E. 1987. Burial Ritual, Gender, and Status in South Siberia in the Late Bronze­early Iron Age. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies.

   Titles should be given in italics or bold.

6. Before completing your final draft, go over your paper with the SPELLING AND GRAMMAR CHECK. I do not accept papers with unnecessary misspellings or with blatantly poor sentence structures.