Depending on the requirements of your instructor, you may need to use the American Sociological Association (ASA) style for your research papers.  ASA formatted papers have in-text citations and a list of references.  If you have a list of references, but no in-text citations, your paper is not formatted in the correct ASA style.  Be sure to include both!

ASA style, 7th edition, is based on the Chicago Manual of Style.  It reflects the most recent edition of the Chicago Manual but also contains elements unique to ASA.

Legal citations and government documents follow the rules of the Chicago Manual of Style and the Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.  All references should be included in the reference list (not in footnotes) and should provide complete and accurate information.

1. Author's name is mentioned within the sentence: use parenthetical citation to indicate date of publication:

          Davis's findings refute this statement (1995). 

2. Author's name is not mentioned in the sentence: include last name and date in parentheses:

         Recent findings refute this statement (Davis 1995).

3. Multiple authors - up to three - include authors names and dates of publication in the first citation of the work:

       A double-blind study supports Davis's findings (Feynman and Levy 2001).

      Ongoing studies support Davis's findings (Feynman, Levy, and Zweig 2003).

  2nd citation and following of the same work: (Feynman et al. 2001)

4. Multiple authors  - more than 3 authors:

       Davis's findings are supported by no fewer than two studies (Winston et al. 2005).

5. When including page numbers, be sure to place them within the parenthetical citation after the date of publication. Use a colon to separate the date and page number. 

     Recent findings refute many of Davis's results (Donaldson 2010:24).

  Government or Institutional Resources - use agency or institution if no author named
    (United States Space Force 2020:34)

General rules:  list all references by author, alphabetically by last name.  If multiple publications by same author are used, list by name, then date.

 Each reference:  For multiple authors up to 10, first author name is inverted: last name, first name; second author and following:  first name last name  (no inversion).  For more than 10 authors, list seven (first inverted) followed by et al.   

  Book, one author:

Dickens, Charles. 2001. What's a girl to do?: teens and dating. Stoke-on-Trent, UK: Junior Miss, Inc.

  Book, two or more authors

Bronte, Charlotte and Emily Bronte. 1989. It's my party: decorating tips for festive occasions. Detroit: Tiddly and Scrum.

Chapter in a Book

Danziger, Sheldon and David Ratner. 2010. "Labor Market Outcomes and the Transition to Adulthood." pp. 133-58 
   in Transition to Adulthood: Special Issue on the Future of Children 20(1) edited by G. Berlin and M. C. Waters. New York:       Rockefeller University Press.

Electronic Book: use URL or format (ex: Kindle) of source used and the date retrieved, if needed.

Melville, Herman. 2008. Making friends with whales. Boulder: ICR. Retrieved June 13, 2022 (http:library.wcsu.edu/gofish).

Journal Article (print)

O'Brien, Jordan. 1983. "Makeovers for mothers." Plantation living 13(5):29-37.

Journal Article (electronic) : If found on the internet omit page numbers, use URL and date of access (if necessary).  If article has a DOI (digital object identifier), use that instead of the URL.

Clemens, Samuel. 1982. "Dangerous dictators and the idiots who love them." Equivocator 9(2). Retrieved March 2, 1999
   (http:library.wcsu.edu/liarliar).

Clemens, Reginald. 1992. "Dangerous dictators I have known." Evangelist 10(20):12-30. doi:10.15517/aie/v1020.20659

Newspaper Articles - print,  electronic

Duke, Lynne. 1994. "Confronting Violence on the Streets." Washington Post, January 8, pp. A1, A10.

Bogart, Humphrey. 1961. "Sailing the Seas." San Juan Star, May 5. Https://sanjuanstar.com/1961/05/05/sailing the seas.html

Government Documents.  If names of authors, compilers etc. are provided use this format:

        Smith, James R. and Allen G. May. 2001. Lifetime Likelihood of Going to State or Federal Prison. Bureau of Justice 
            Statistics Special Report.  NCJ 16099. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.   

        If there are no names of authors, use the name of the agency issuing the document.
          U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2020.  Labor Force Characteristics by Race and Ethnicity. 2018. Report 1200.
                http://www/.bls.govcps/csprace2018.pdf