Biological Sciences

• Are you working on an assignment?  Check the instructions for any specific citation requirements.  If you don't find any, reach out to your professor! 
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Summarize, paraphrase, and quote to include others' ideas in your own writing.

• Summarize: Condense the information to a few general statements. Summarize when you find the same information in many sources. Summarize when one source provides a lot of context for your project.
• Paraphrase: Put the information in your own words. Paraphrase when one idea is important but the exact wording does not matter. You will often find paraphrasing useful if multiple sources have similar information.
• Quote: Use a small portion of another person's words, exactly as that person wrote or said them. Put quotation marks around the words or phrases you borrowed. Quote when information is unique to one source and is not easy to reword. Quote when one source uses especially compelling language.

The 7th Edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association was published in October 2019, but some support resources have not yet incorporated information about the new edition yet. Want to learn more about the changes? See a comparison of the 6th edition and the 7th edition.

The links in the "APA Style Guide" section provide examples of how to cite commonly-used resources such as books, journal articles, and websites.  The examples in this section are our suggestions for how to cite "tricky" resources, such as Dynamed (a database of evidence-based summaries) and images or videos from the MCPHS Library collections.

Example of how to cite Dynamed:

DynaMed. (2019, May 31). Near-drowning. Ipswich, MA: EBSCO Information Services. Retrieved October 11, 2022 from https://www-dynamed-com.ezproxymcp.flo.org/condition/near-drowning 

Examples of how to cite images from MCPHS Library image databases: 

Nucleus Medical Media (2020). Anatomy of the anterior cruciate ligament [Digital image]. Retrieved October 11, 2022 from //ebsco.smartimagebase.com/anatomy-of-the-anterior-cruciate-ligament/view-item?ItemID=3954 

Walsh, J., Raskin, R. (2021, Oct 31).  Digestive System [Digital image]. NetAnatomy. Retrieved October 11, 2022 from https://www-netanatomy-com.ezproxymcp.flo.org/GAsystems/gi/GIintroi.asp 

Example of how to cite videos from MCPHS Library streaming video collections:

Acland, R.D. (2003). Acland's Video Atlas of Human Anatomy. Volume 2: The Lower Extremity. The Foot.
2.4.8 Short flexor muscles of the great and fifth toes [Video]. Wolters Kluwer. https://aclandanatomy-com.ezproxymcp.flo.org/

JoVE Science Education Database. (2023). Microbiology. Microscopy and Staining: Gram, Capsule, and Endospore Staining [Video]. JoVE. https://app-jove-com.ezproxymcp.flo.org/v/10513/microscopy-and-staining-gram-capsule-and-endospore-staining

Citation managers are amazing tools that can assist you during the research process. Using citation mangers is a way for you to collect, manage, and organize citations for all the articles, books and other sources you find. You can use them to create reference lists in a wide range of styles, do in-text citations, and share articles and citations with colleagues.

The citation managers that MCPHS supports are Zotero and EndNote.

The Cite Button

Most of the Library's electronic resources can generate a citation for you. Check for the Cite Button or other Citation Tools in these locations:

• In the menu to the right of an article/abstract.
• At the top of the results list.
• Under each citation in the results list.
• At the bottom of an article/abstract page.

Citation Generators

Citation generators are useful tools for creating citations. Remember though, no citation generator is 100% accurate. Please double-check your citations against the handbook to be sure they are correct!

• ZoteroBib
  • ZoteroBib is a quick, web-based citation generator provided by Zotero--no account or software installation needed.
• CiteThisForMe
  • Great for creating one-off citations in a wide variety of styles, including AMA. You can also create an account and save bibliographies here.
• Citation Machine
  • Standard online citation generator that walks you through the process of finding the information you need for a citation and then creating it.