MBNH: How to Format Citations and Literature Cited

IN GENERAL

Multiple citations are separated by a comma. Multiple citations appear in chronological order (Johnson 1922, Doe 1987, Smith 1999). Multiple citations by the same author list the author once, and the years of publication in chronological order (Jackson 1973, 1989).
In the literature cited, multiple references by the same author are listed in chronological order. After the first, the author's name is replaced by 5 hypens followed by a period. If this person is a lead author in further materials with co-authors, they follow and the names are spelled out.
Craves, J. A. 1997. (blah blah)
____. 1999. (blah blah revised edition).
____ and D. S. O'Brien. 1983.
Multiple references by the same author in the same year are labeled alphabetically and cited as such (Craves 1997a).
Craves, J. A. 1997a. (blah blah)
____. 1997b. (blah blah)
Personal communications are cited with the person's first initial and last name. They are not listed in Literature cited (J. Doe, pers. comm.).

BOOK (includes pamplets, leaflets, etc.)

Notes: Titles have initial caps and are italicized.
Format: Author(s). Year. Title. Place of publication: Publisher.
Examples: [AOU] American Ornithologists' Union. 1983. AOU Check-list of North American Birds, 6th Edition. Washington DC: AOU.
Proper citation: AOU 1983. Note bracketed use of acronym where an organization is the author. Works for other types of material as well.
Craves, J. A. and D. S. O'Brien. 1998. The Time of Our Lives. Detroit: Wayne State Univ. Press.
Proper citation: Craves and O'Brien 1998. More than three authors uses first author plus "et al.". Note that et al. is not italicized and there is only one period, at the end. Example: Craves et al. 1998.

BOOK WITH EDITORS

Example: Brewer, R., G.A. McPeek, and R.J. Adams, Jr., eds. 1991. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Michigan. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.

ARTICLE IN A BOOK

Notes: Titles of articles in books or journal article titles do not go in quotes, are not italicized, and do not have initial caps. The titles of the books or journals they appear in are italicized.
Format: Author(s). Year. Title. Page number in book title (editors of book). Place of publication: Publisher.
Examples: Prince, H.H. 1991. Common Goldeneye. Pages 41-42 in The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Michigan (Brewer, R., G.A. McPeek, and R.J. Adams, Jr., eds.) East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.
McPeek, G.A. 1994. King Rail. Pg. 90 in The Birds of Michigan (McPeek, G.A. and R.J. Adams, Jr., eds.) Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press.

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Notes: No volume number except for journals that are individually paginated.
Format: Author(s). Year. Title. Journal title volume:pages.
Example: Mueller, H.C. and D.D. Berger. 1966. Analyses of weight and fat variations in transient Swainson's Thrushes. Bird-Banding 37:83-112.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

Notes: Unsigned articles may be attributed to [Anonymous].
Format: Author(s). Article title. Newspaper title in italics and date of publication. Section designator:page number(column number).
Example: Brown, S. and R. Black. 2001. Detroit celebrates a birthday. Detroit Free Press 25 Jul 2001. Sec. A:1 (col 2).

ELECTRONIC SOURCE (web page)

Notes: Date of posting or revision is often given somewhere on the page Provide it in the form shown below. It is necessary to list your date of access because web postings are often updated, and information available at one date may no longer be available later. Be sure to include the complete address for the site. Also, note the use of angled brackets around the electronic address. Unsigned pages may be attributed to [Anonymous]. Enclose web addresses in < >.
Format: Author(s). Year. Name of Page. Date of Posting/Revision. Date of Access. <electronic address>.
Examples: [BSC] Bird Studies Canada. 1999. Canadian Important Bird Area, Lower Detroit River. Ver. Feb 1999. Accessed 31 Aug 2000. <www.bsc-eoc.org/Iba/ibasites/On047.html>
[MBRC] Michigan Bird Records Committee. 2000. Checklist of Michigan Birds. Ver. Jan 2000. Accessed 2 Sep 2000. <http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/rouge_river/Checklist.html>

UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS

Format: Author(s). Year. [Description of material in brackets]. Location.
Examples: Swales, B. H. 1893-1915. [Unpublished journals of bird sightings]. Located at: Univ. of Michigan Mus. Zoology, Bird Division, Ann Arbor.
Purdy, J. B. 1904. [List of birds observed in Plymouth, Michigan, submitted to Walter Barrows]. Located at: Univ. of Michigan Mus. Zoology, Bird Division, Ann Arbor.

MAPS

Format: Area represented. Date of publication. Title [type of map in brackets]. Place of publication: publisher. Physical description.
Example: Wayne Co., Michigan. 1997. Wayne County street map [road map]. Detroit: Map Happy. One sheet.
Cite as: Wayne Co. 1997.

Articles should be directed to:

Michigan Birds and Natural History
c/o Ray Adams, Kalamazoo Nature Center
7000 N. Westnedge
Kalamazoo, MI 49009