LibGuides: Music Citation and Writing: Citation &amp; Style Guides

General Resources

Books

Music Research: A Handbook, 3rd ed. by Laurie J. Sampsel
Call Number: ML113 S25 M87 2020 [Allen writing shelves]
Introduces the major music research tools. Appendices include citation examples for Turabian/Chicago, MLA, and APA.
Writing about Music, 3rd ed. by D. Kern Holoman
Call Number: ML3797 W68 2014 [Allen writing shelves]
Also available online.
Most helpful for citing or referring to musical titles or terminology. Includes information on preparing musical examples, program notes, and more.

Online Resources

A Guide for Music Citation - Chicago/Turabian Style
A guide to many common music sources cited in Chicago/Turabian style, with footnote and bibliography citation examples. From Indiana University Libraries.
Notes Style Sheet
Documents style and citation decisions made by editors of the Music Library Association's journal Notes. Addresses many issues associated with musical works or writings. Download the file to use navigation features.

APA

Style guide of the American Psychological Association, most likely to be used in the sciences, social sciences, and music education.

Style Guides

APA (online guide at Purdue)
A guide for quick reference. Consult the APA book for the most detailed questions.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed. [printed book]
Call Number: BF76.7 P83 2020 [Allen writing shelves]
The style manual of choice for writers in the social and behavioral sciences, natural sciences, nursing, communications, education, business, engineering, and other fields.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed. [printed book]
Call Number: BF76.7 P83 2010 [Allen writing shelves, Mortensen shelves]
The style manual of choice for writers in the social and behavioural sciences. Now superseded by the 7th edition.

Chicago/Turabian

Chicago: Style guide of the University of Chicago, often used in the humanities, literature, and arts.
Turabian: An alternative/expanded guide derived from Chicago style.

Style Guides

Chicago Manual of Style (brief online guide at Purdue)
A guide for quick reference. For more detailed questions, consult the full online version of CMS, or the full print CMS book.
Citing Music Sources (University of Western Ontario)
This useful online guide adapts Turabian style to music resources.

The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed. [printed book]
Call Number: Z253 U69 2017 [Allen Library writing shelves]
Also available online.
Style guide most commonly used in the humanities, literature, and arts. Use this to answer advanced citation and style questions.
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 9th ed. by Kate L. Turabian
Call Number: LB2369 .T8 2018 [Mortensen reference]
Covers the research and writing process, citation practices and examples, and editorial style. Based on the 17th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style.

MLA

Style of the Modern Language Association, often used in the humanities, literature, and arts.

Style Guides

MLA (online guide at Purdue)
A guide to the 8th edition, for quick reference. Consult the MLA book for the most detailed questions.

MLA Handbook, 9th ed.
Call Number: LB2369 G53 2021 [Allen writing shelves]
Most often used in the humanities, literature, and arts. Builds on the MLA's unique approach to documenting sources using core elements that allows writers to cite any type of work. Includes new information on inclusive language, hundreds of example citations, and more.
MLA Handbook, 8th ed.
Call Number: LB2369 G53 2016 [Allen writing shelves, Mortensen reserves]
Most often used in the humanities, literature, and arts. "Previous editions of the MLA Handbook provided separate instructions for each format, and additional instructions were required for new formats. [Now] MLA recommends instead one universal set of guidelines, which writers can apply to any type of source."
MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 3rd ed.
Call Number: LB2369 G53 M53 2008 [Allen writing shelves, Mortensen reference]
Guidance on writing scholarly texts, documenting research sources, submitting manuscripts to publishers, and dealing with legal publication issues.

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