Citing This Website
This page explains how to cite The Pequod should you use material from it in your own writing or work. You can read more about plagiarism on the page Plagiarism: Why it Matters and How to Avoid It.
Why Citation Matters
You may be wondering why it matters if you re-use material from this website in your own work without making clear that it came from
The Pequod. One simple answer is that it is illegal: by using this website, you agree to the terms of its
Copyright, which establish that you may not re-use material without stating that it originated from The Pequod. If you have found The Pequod useful enough that you want to re-use it in your own work, then you ought to be willing to respect the wishes of the author who put his time and energy into writing it in the first place.
There are several other, more general reasons, why it is important to cite this website so as to avoid accusations of plagiarism. You can read more about plagiarism, and why correct referencing matters, on the Plagiarism: Why it Matters and How to Avoid It page.
How to Cite a Website
Websites and other digital media are increasingly used in academic and other work. However, because electronic media are evolving so fast, the rules about the correct way to reference a website tend to vary with each new edition of a style guide.
Almost all of the references used on this site conform to the MLA guidelines, but there are a variety of styles you may use for citation. The layout for three of the major ones is given below:
Chicago:
The Pequod. "Title of the Article/Page.” The Pequod. http://www.thepequod.org.uk/pagename.htm (accessed month, dd, yyyy).
MLA:
"Title of the Article/Page." The Pequod. dd mon.m yyyy. dd mon. yyyy <http://www.thepequod.org.uk/pagename.htm>.
Oxford:
"Title of the Article/Page", The Pequod, (published online mon. yyyy) <http://www.thepequod.org.uk/pagename.htm>, accessed dd mon. yyyy
When citing websites it is important to give two dates
because, unlike a printed book, the content may change regularly. The
first date you should give is when the page was published or last
updated. As on this site, this can often be found by looking at the
very bottom of the page. The second date should
be the date you last accessed the site.
Of course, when using material from any source, you should
ensure you comply with the Copyright rules.
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More Information
The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.
Gibali, Joseph.
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of American, 2003.
Ritter, R.M., ed.
The Oxford Manual of Style. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
You may also find Dr. Abel Scribe's Guides to Research Style and Documentation useful. These are pared down, online versions of several of the major style guides. The site can be found at www.docstyles.com. An abbreviated version of the citation rules in the Chicago Manual of Style is also available online.
Bibliographic software will automatically format citations for you; you can read a review of four such bibliographic options on this site.
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A Word of Warning
Whereas physically-published books and journals usually go through rigorous processes of editing and proof-reading, this is not always the case for websites (including this one). As a result, although the Internet can be a wonderful research tool, it is important that you remain aware of the reliability (or not) of online sources. Ways of being more certain about the accuracy of information include:
- Using sites which are simply digital translations of existing authoritiative sources (e.g. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). Be aware, however, that etexts may still differ from published works because of errors in transcription, scanning or proofing.
- Choosing websites which have set-up systems of checking and writing similar to those used for traditional academic journals (e.g. The Literary Encyclopedia).
- Referring to collaborative projects, which by the sheer number of editors and the speed of changes may (although not necessarily) create objective and reliable information (e.g. Wikipedia).
Independent websites like this one may prove useful, often contributing radical ideas which might not otherwise get circulated. However, with no system of external moderation (other than the comments made by its users), it is important that you double-check any raw information (although not subjective opinions) obtained here with a second source, preferably one of the above.
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