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English Composition 2

Documenting Sources from Online Subscription Databases

The examples below illustrate how you should document sources that you locate in an online subscription database, such as ProQuest and FirstSearch, the first example for an article in a journal or magazine with a specific issue date, the second for an article in a journal or magazine without a specific issue date. See Citing and Documenting Online Sources for information about creating a "Works Cited" page for other sources from the Web.  

Note that the punctuation and spacing is correct in the examples below. Any other spacing or punctuation is incorrect.

An article in a journal or magazine with a specific issue date

Seibert, Gary. "Love Stew." America 9 April 1988: 385. ProQuest. Jacobs Library, Oglesby, IL. 22 July 2004 <http://www.umi.com/proquest/>.

Each item in the citation is identified below:

  1. Seibert, Gary. = Name of the author of the article
  2. "Love Stew." = Title of the article
  3. America = Title of the print source in which the article appears
  4. 9 April 1988: = Date of publication for the article
  5. 385. = Page number or numbers for complete article
  6. ProQuest. = Name of the online subscription database
  7. Jacobs Library, Oglesby, IL. = the name and city for the library subscribing to the online database
  8. 22 July 1999 = Date when researcher accessed the source
  9. <http://www.umi.com/proquest/>. = complete URL of database home page (in angle brackets)

If the author's name does not appear in your sentence, the parenthetical citation for the source listed above would look like this (Seibert 385). If your source does not include the author's name, you should put the title of the source in the parenthetical citation ("Love Stew"), and you would then begin with the title of the article as you list the source on your "Works Cited" page.

An article in a journal or magazine without a specific issue date

DiGaetina, John Louis. "M. Butterfly: An Interview with David Henry Hwang. TDR 33.3 (1989): 141-153. ProQuest. Jacobs Library, Oglesby, IL. 23 July 2004 <http://www.umi.com/proquest/>.

Each item in the citation is identified below:

  1. DiGaetina, John Louis. = Name of the author of the article
  2. "M. Butterfly: An Interview with David Henry Hwang." = Title of the article
  3. TDR = Title of the print source in which the article appears
  4. 33.3 (1989): = Volume number, issue number, and year of publication
  5. 141-153. = Page number or numbers for complete article
  6. ProQuest. = Name of the online subscription database
  7. Jacobs Library, Oglesby, IL. = the name and city for the library subscribing to the online database
  8. 22 July 1999 = Date when researcher accessed the source
  9. <http://www.umi.com/proquest/>. = complete URL of database home page (in angle brackets)

This page was last updated on July 30, 2006. Copyright Randy Rambo, 2006.