Email: library@bvu.edu
Text us: 712-794-4288
Chat online with a BVU Librarian
Schedule an appointment with a BVU librarian
(This can be an electronic meeting or F2F)
How to specify a work's location depends on the format of the work. For paginated print or similar fixed-format works (like PDFs) that are contained in another work (e.g., an essay in a print anthology or the PDF of an article in a journal), the location is the page range.
For online works, the location, in order of preference, is the DOI, permalink, or URL.
See the chart below to learn more about location depending on a work's format.
When a work contained in another work is paginated, provide the entire page range for the contained work, not just the page or pages you used from the work.
Precede a page number or range with the abbreviation pp. (for pages) and a single page number with p. (for page).
In rare cases, additional information may be needed to be included with the page numbers so that the work can be found. For example, a print newspaper may need the section title to be included in the Location element along with the page number to locate the work.
Page numbers do not need to be specified in your works-cited-list entry for a paginated work, like a novel, that is not contained in another work, even when that work is digitized on a website.
Marvell, Andrew. "The Mower's Song." The Norton Anthology of English Literature, M. H. Abrams, general editor, 4th ed., vol. 1, W. W. Norton, 1979, p. 1368.
Mohamed, Feisal G. "On Race and Historicism: A Polemic in Three Turns." ELH, vol. 89, no. 2, summer 2022, pp. 377-405.
Roth, Elaine. "This is America: Race, Gender and the Gothic in Get Out (2017)." Gothic Film: An Edinburgh Companion, edited by Richard J. Hand and Jay McRoy, pp. 206-217.
Use the same numeric symbols for page numbers that your source does and the same case, whether lowercase roman numerals (i, ii, iii), uppercase roman numerals (I, II, III), or upper- or lowercase alphabetic letters (A1, 89d).
Felstiner, John. Preface. Selected Poems and Prose of Paul Celan, translated by Felstiner, W. W. Norton, 2001, pp. xix-xxxvi.
Richards, Maria. "Digital Literacy Lessons for High School Students." Teaching Today, 8 Mar. 2020, pp. A11-A12.
If a work in a periodical is not printed on consecutive pages – if, for example, after beginning on page 1 and it skips to page 10 – include only the first page number and a plus sign, leaving no intervening space.
Williams, Joy. "Rogue Territory." The New York Times Book Review, 9 Nov. 2014, pp. 1+.
URLs should be copied in full directly from the address bar in a browser window, as should DOIs and permalinks when you use them to directly access a work.
When including a URL, you can usually omit http:// or https:// from URLs unless you want to hyperlink them and are working in a software program that does not allow hyperlinking without the protocol.
If a URL runs more than three full lines or is longer than the rest of the entry, truncate it. When truncating, always retain at least the host. Avoid citing URLs produced by shortening services (like bit.ly).
Max the Pen. Comment on "Why They're Wrong." The Economist, 29 Sept. 2016, 6:06 p.m., www.economist.com/node/21707926/comments.
Even if you initially access a work through a URL, when the publisher indicates that a DOI or permalink is associated with the work, list it in your entry instead.
If the DOI is not preceded by http:// or https:// in your source, precede the DOI in your entry with the following:
https://doi.org/
Friedman, Susan Stanford. "Alternatives to Periodization: Literary History, Modernism, and the 'New' Temporalities." Modern Language Quarterly, vol. 80, no. 4, 2019, pp. 379-402. Duke University Press, https://doi.org/10.1215/00267929-7777780.
For a physical object or event that you experienced firsthand, such as a work of art in a museum, an artifact in an archive, a conference presentation, or a performance, give the name of the institution and a sufficient amount of information to identify where it is located – whether the city alone, city and state, or city and country.
Beyoncé. The Formation World Tour. 14 May 2016, Rose Bowl, Los Angeles.
Kerschner, Richard. "Providing Safe and Practical Environments for Cultural Properties in Historic Buildings and Beyond." Beyond the Numbers: Specifying and Achieving an Efficient Preservation Environment. National Archives Annual Preservation Conference, 16 Mar. 2006, William McGowan Theater, National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
Wong, Martin. Stanton Near Forsyth Street. 17 Nov. 2011–17 Feb. 2014, Museum of Modern Art, Manhattan.
Other information may be used to identify archival materials held in a physical location – for example, a shelf mark. Such information should generally be recorded exactly as found.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Circa 1400-10, British Library, London, Harley MS 7334.