How to Cite Encyclopedias in Research Papers
Three of the most common styles of citing sources in research papers are APA, MLA or Turabian. To cite an encyclopedia accurately as a source for your research paper, you must know what style you are using, as they all follow different protocol.
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Instructions
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Follow the APA formatting rules. Gather the necessary information including the author of the article used, the editor of the encyclopedia itself, the name of the article, the year the encyclopedia was published, the name of the encyclopedia, the volume number for that encyclopedia, the edition number, the page numbers for the article and publishing information including the name of the publisher and where it was published. Format in the following order and with the included punctuation (and put the name of the encyclopedia in italics):
Author, A. (Date). Name of Article. A. Editor (Ed.), [In] Name of Encyclopedia (Edition, Volume, Page Numbers). Place Published: Publisher.
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Follow the MLA formatting rules. As this style is more basic than APA, you will gather less details to include. For an appropriate citation, include the author's name, article title, encyclopedia name, edition and date of publication. Format in the following order and with the proper punctuation:
Author, A. "Article Title." Name of Encyclopedia. Ed. Year Published.
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Follow the Turabian formatting rules. This style is slightly more complex than MLA so you will need to gather a few more details, including the name of the author of the article you are referencing, the name of the encyclopedia, the edition number, the article title and publisher information including the name, city and year it was published. Format the following way with the necessary punctuation:
Author, A. Encyclopedia, Ed., "Article Title." Publication City: Publisher Name, Year Published.
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Tips & Warnings
Some encyclopedia articles will not include an author or editor. In these cases start with the next bit of information when citing them, and do not put down "Unknown Author" or "No Editor," no matter which formatting style you are using.
Changes are made to the APA, MLA and Turabian formatting styles on a regular basis so it is a good idea to double check in a manual for your research paper style to ensure you are including all needed information and citing it correctly.
