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Citing Sources: Primary Sources

This guide provides information and examples for citing sources properly according to the following citation style manuals: American Psychological Association (APA), 7th edition; Modern Language Association (MLA), 8th ed
Last Updated: Jan 8, 2024 3:43 PM

Letter

APA

Wright, F.L. (1908, December). [Letter to Darwin D. Martin].
    University at Buffalo Archives, Buffalo, NY.


MLA

Wright, Frank Lloyd. Letter to Darwin D. Martin. Dec. 1908.
    Frank Lloyd Wright and Darwin D. Martin Papers. Special
    Collections, University Archives, U. at Buffalo Lib, Buffalo.


Chicago

Cite unpublished interviews, letters, conversations in person or by phone and e-mail messages in a note or in the text and do not include in the bibliography.

Notes:

 Frank Lloyd Wright, letter to Darwin D. Martin, December 1908.


CSE

Citation-Sequence:

Wright F. [Letter to Darwin D. Martin, 1908]. Located at: Special
Collections, University Archives, Univ at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY.

Name-Year:

Wright F. 1908. [Letter to Darwin D. Martin]. Located at: Special
Collections, University Archives, Univ at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY.

Interview

APA

Interviews fall into three categories: published interviews, personal interviews, and research participant interviews. However, only published interviews require a formal citation in your reference list. 


MLA

McClure, Michael. Interview by Craig Frischkorn. Michael McClure
    Interview, Jamestown Community College, 7/22/92
. Special 
    Collections, Poetry Audiovisual Collection, U. Buffalo Lib, Buffalo.
    22 July 1992. Audiotape.

Royer, William. Interview by Ted Koppel. Nightline. ABC. WKBW,
    Buffalo. 12 Dec. 1980. Television.

Krakauer, Jon. Interview by Terry Gross. Fresh Air. Natl. Public Radio.
    WBFO, Buffalo. 18 June 1996. Radio.

Pettitte, Andrew. Interview by Chris Berman. "Pitching in the Steroids Era."
    ESPN.com. Entertainment Sports Programming Network, 12 May 2007.
    Web. 8 July 2009.


Chicago

Published:

Notes:

Angela Lansbury, interview, in Off Camera: Conversations with the Makers of Prime-Time
Television,
ed. Richard Levinson and William Link, (New York: Plume-NAL, 1986), 82-86.

Bibliography:

Lansbury, Angela. Interview. Off-Camera: Conversations with the Makers of Prime-Time
Television
, eds. Richard Levinson and William Link, New York: Plume-NAL, 1986. 82-86.

Unpublished:

Personal communications are usually fully integrated within the text or contained within a note. They rarely appear as bibliographic entries. Email addresses or the like belonging to an individual are generally omitted, and should only be cited with permission from the owner.

Notes:

Benjamin Spock, interview by Milton J.E. Senn, November 20, 1974, interview 67A, transcript,
Senn Oral History Collection, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.


CSE

[No example provided in current edition.]

Motion Picture (VHS/DVD)

APA

Valdes, D. (Producer), & Eastwood, C. (Producer/Director). (1992).
    Unforgiven [Motion Picture]. Warner Brothers.

Perrin, J., & Barratier, C. (Producer/Directors). (2003). Winged
    Migration
[Motion picture]. Columbia.


MLA

Unforgiven. Prod. David Valdez. Dir. Clint Eastwood. Perf. Clint
    Eastwood, Gene HackmanMorgan Freeman, and Richard Harris.
    Warner Brothers,1992. Film.

Winged Migration. Prod. Jacques Perrin and Christophe Barratier.
    Co-dir. Jacques Clusaud and Michel Debats. Columbia, 2003. Film.


Chicago

Notes:

Clash of the Titans, directed by Desmond Davis (1981; Buckinghamshire, England: MGM, 2010),
DVD.

Bibliography:

Clash of the Titans. Directed by Desmond Davis. Buckinghamshire, England: MGM, 1981. DVD.

 


CSE

Citation-Sequence:

Unforgiven [videocassette]. Valdez D, producer. Eastwood C, director.
[Burbank, CA]: Warner Brothers; 1992. 1 videocassette: 131 min, sound,
color, ½ in.

Name-Year:

Valdez D, producer. Eastwood C, director. 1992. Unforgiven [videocassette].
[Burbank, CA]: Warner Brothers. 1 videocassette: 119 min, sound, color, ½ in.

Television Program

APA

Kirk, M. (Writer and director). (2004, April 15). The man who
    knew [Television series episode]. In M. Kirk (Producer)
    Frontline. WGBH Educational Foundation:
    Public Broadcasting Service.


MLA

"The Man Who Knew." Frontline. Dir. Michael Kirk. PBS.
    WGBH, Boston. 15 Apr. 2004. Television.


Chicago

Notes:

Michael Kirk, Frontline: The Man Who Knew, television program, Boston, MA: WGBH
Educational Foundation, PBS Video, April 15, 2004.

Bibliography:

Kirk, Michael. Frontline: The Man Who Knew. Television  program. Boston,
MA: WGBH Educational Foundation: PBS Video, April 15, 2004.


CSE

[No example provided in current edition.]

Music Recording

APA

Dylan, B. (2005). No direction home: The soundtrack [CD].
    Columbia.

Springsteen, B. (1973). Blinded by the light [Recorded by M. Mann].
    On The roaring silence [LP recording]. Warner
    Brothers. (1976).

Mahler, G. (1999). Das Lied von der Erde [Recorded by the Wiener
     Philharmoniker conducted by Leonard Bernstein]. [CD]. 
     Decca. (Recorded 1966)


MLA

Dylan, Bob. No Direction Home: The Soundtrack. Columbia, 2005. CD.

Mann, Manfred. "Blinded by the Light." By Bruce Springsteen. The Roaring
    Silence
. Warner Brothers, 1976. CD.

Mahler, Gustav. Symphony No. 5. Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Cond.
     Daniel Barenboim. Teldec, 1997. CD.


Chicago

Notes:

Bob Dylan, “Workingman’s Blues #2,” recorded February 2006, track 3 on Modern Times, Columbia, compact disc.

Bibliography:

Dylan, Bob. “Workingman’s Blues #2.” Recorded February 2006. Track 3 on Modern Times. Columbia. Compact disc.

 

CSE

[No example provided in current edition.]

Music Score

APA

Feldman, M. (1966). Two pieces for three pianos. [Musical score].
    New York: C.F. Peters.

Torelli, G. (2007). Tu lo sai. In R. Nichols (Ed.), 30 Italian songs
     and arias of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
[Musical
     score]. London: Edition Peters.


MLA

Schoenberg, Arnold. A Survivor from Warsaw: For Narrator, Men's

     Chorus, and Orchestra, Opus 46. Bomart Music Publications, 1949.

Copland, Aaron. Old American Songs. Boosey & Hawkes,
    1954.


Chicago

Notes:

Johann Christian Bach, Three Sonatas for Piano Four Hands, ed. Wilhelm Weissman, (Boca
Raton, FL: Masters Music, 1995).

Bibliography:

Bach, Johann Christian. Three Sonatas for Piano Four Hands. Ed. Wilhelm Weissman. Boca
Raton, FL: Masters Music, 1995.

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