ELEMENTARY CITATION GUIDELINES

WHERE DID YOUR INFORMATION COME FROM?

It is important for students to give credit to resources they use when conducting research and completing projects, even in elementary school. The following list includes suggested guidelines for teaching students how to give proper credit to sources, which is broken down by grade level.

A reference list should be placed in alphabetical order by the first word of your reference (but you should ignore words like “a,” “an,” or “the” if these are the first words). Make sure to proof read your references list and follow correct capitalization and punctuation. If no author is known for a magazine, encyclopedia, or Internet source, start the reference with the title.

Students may also use Citation Machine, which is a free, online resource that will automatically generate a citation in a variety of formats (APA, MLA, Turabian, Chicago, etc.).

Grade 1:

Author. Title.
It is also suggested that students include the source if found online, e.g. “website” or “online.”

Examples:
Gail Gibbons. The Fruit We Eat.
Tigers. Online.
Scholastic. A Super Celebration, Website.

Grade 2:

Author (last name, first name). Title, Source (name of publication and/or “online,” if applicable).

Examples:
Book: Gail Gibbon., The Fruit We Eat.
Encyclopedia: Tigers. Britannica Elementary. Online.
Periodical: "Who's That Bird." scholastic News. Online.
Website: "Emperor Penguin." A-Z Animals. Website.

Grades 3-4:

Author (Last Name, first). Title (underlined if book; quotation marks if Encylopedia or Periodical). Name of Source (if magazine, encyclopedia, etc.) Date. Online. (if online resource).

Examples:
Gibbons, Gail. The Fruit We Eat. 2016.
"Tigers." Britannica Elementary. 2017. Online.
Scholastic. "A Super Celebration." Scholastic News. February 5, 2016. Online.
Davitt, Joe. "Saving San Diego's Rarest Plant Species." San Diego ZooNooz. 11 Jan. 2017. Website.

Grade 5:

Author (Last Name, first). Title (underlined if book; quotation marks if Encylopedia or Periodical). Name of Source (if magazine, encyclopedia, etc.) Date. URL (if applicable).

Examples:

Book:
Gibbons, Gail. The Fruit We Eat. 2016.

Encyclopedia Britannica Online:
"Tigers." Britannica Elementary. 2017. Online.

Magazine Accessed Online:
Zissou, Rebecca. “Surviving Kristallnacht.” Junior Scholastic. November 25, 2013. Accessed Online.

Online Website:
Davitt, Joe. "Saving San Diego's Rarest Plant Species." San Diego ZooNooz. 11 Jan. 2017. http://zoonooz.sandiegozoo.org/2016/01/29/saving-s...