This course guide provides information to support and supplement what is covered in the NRM 150 library session.

 

Plagiarism, Copyright, and Fair Use

 

Citing Sources

Style Manuals

  • Publication Manual of the American Physiological Association: The Official Guide to APA Style (print copy is available at the library reference desk)
  • Manuals for other styles are also available in print at the reference desk.

Guides and Examples

APA

MLA

Government Documents

Citation Management Tools

A citation manager helps you keep track of articles, books and other materials, as you find them. They can be used to generate in-line citations and bibliographies/reference lists in a wide variety of citation styles in Microsoft Word, and some in Open Office as well. Some allow you to manage, tag, and annotate PDFs as well as share and collaborate with groups online. Each manager also has built-in connections to Google Scholar and common library databases.

NDSU Libraries currently offers user support for three popular citation management tools: EndNote Online, Mendeley, and Zotero. This support does not represent an endorsement. There are other, free citation managers online. Which one you choose should depend on your needs and preferences. In particular, you may want to use the same manager as your research group or department. See a brief comparison below or on our Citation Management Tools Guide.

EndNote Online

  • Cloud based and desktop client (the Libraries only provides the online version)
  • Good with large collections of citations
  • Works seamlessly with Web of Science
  • Cite While You Write plug-in for Microsoft Word is a bit clunky
  • Not a good option for managing PDFs
  • EndNote Online Guide

Mendeley

  • Cloud based and desktop client
  • Easy to manage, share, and annotate PDFs
  • Sometimes struggles to extract complete citation information
  • Strong collaborative, social-networking component
  • Mendeley Guide

Zotero

  • Good at picking up citation information off of websites and other online content including screenshots
  • Open-source software program
  • Allows for management and tagging of PDFs and other digital materials
  • Zotero Guide

 

Source Types

For a brief overview of different scholarly, academic, and in-between source types, see the video below. This is often used in our ENGL 120 library sessions, but the information is useful for any class. We also have guides about Peer Reviewed Publications and on Finding and Identifying Original Research Articles in the Sciences.

Scroll over the bottom of the video to access video controls and turn on captions (CC) if desired. You can also download a transcript.

Finding Articles, Books, Government Information, and More

See the Natural Resource Sciences guide for information on finding articles, books, government information and more.

https://library.ndsu.edu/search-find/research/research-assistance/natural-resource-sciences

Library Research How To

Here are links to some helpful information about navigating and searching the NDSU Libraries' resources.

See more on our Research Assistance Page