SAMPLE REFERENCES
Standard citation format for pdf reports or books:
Author last name (no comma) author first initial (period) Title of publication in italics (period)
City of publication (comma) state initials (colon) name of publisher (semi colon) year of
publication (period) URL (period)
Standard citation for a journal article:
Author last name (no comma) author first initial or two initials (period) Title of publication
(initial or proper noun caps only, no italics) (period) Name of journal (abbreviated using MESH
terms – can find on PubMed – italicized) (period) Citation info which is: year(semi
colon)volume(parentheses)issue(parentheses)(colon)page numbers(period). There are no spaces
in the last part - ie – 2008;46(1):14-21.
Standard citation for a website:
Author (group responsible for the content). Name of the page. Name of the group responsible for
the website. URL. Accessed date. Updated date.
COMMONLY USED CITATIONS
North Carolina Institute of Medicine. Healthy North Carolina 2020: A Better State of Health.
Morrisville, NC: North Carolina Institute of Medicine; 2011.
http://publichealth.nc.gov/hnc2020/. Accessed February 1, 2014.
North Carolina Institute of Medicine Task Force on Prevention. Prevention for the Health of
North Carolina: Prevention Action Plan. Morrisville, NC: North Carolina Institute of Medicine;
2009. http://www.nciom.org/wpcontent/uploads/NCIOM/projects/prevention/finalreport/PreventionReport-July2010.pdf.
Accessed February 1, 2014.
North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
2010 BRFSS topics for Durham County. North Carolina Department of Health and Human
Services website. http://www.schs.state.nc.us/data/brfss/survey.htm. Accessed February 1,
2014. Updated July 14, 2013.
*If there is a specific health topic, choose one like this (eg. prostate cancer):
North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
2010 BRFSS topics for Durham County. Prostate cancer screening. North Carolina Department
of Health and Human Services website. http://www.schs.state.nc.us/data/brfss/survey.htm.
Accessed February 1, 2014. Updated July 14, 2013.
North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics. 2011 County Health Data Book. North
Carolina Department of Health and Human Services website.
http://www.schs.state.nc.us/SCHS/data/databook/. Accessed February 1, 2014. Published
November 2010. Updated November, 2013.
*Use a more specific URL, if possible. Add name or number of table, if possible.
US Census Bureau. 2012 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. Table DP03, Selected
Economic Characteristics. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml.
Accessed November 2, 2013.
North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics. 2012 The Baby Book. North Carolina
Department of Health and Human Services website.
http://www.schs.state.nc.us/SCHS/births/babybook/2012/. Accessed February 1, 2014.
Partnership for a Healthy Durham. Durham County 2013: State of the County Health Report.
Durham, NC: Durham County Health Department; 2013.
http://healthydurham.org/docs/Durham%20SOTCH%202013.pdf Accessed February 1, 2014.
Angle M, Sharpe L. Durham County Schools, Youth Risk Behavior Survey – Spring 2011. Mars
Hill, NC: Richard L. Hoffman Center for Assessment and Research Alliances; 2010.
http://healthydurham.org/docs/Durham%202011%20YRBS%20Report%20Final.pdf. Accessed
February 1, 2014.
Edwards RD. Public transit, obesity, and medical costs: assessing the magnitudes. Prev Med.
2008;46(1):14-21.
3021 – School wellness policy. Durham Public Schools website. http://www.dpsnc.net/aboutdps/district-policies/523/3021-school-wellness-policy. Updated September 2012. Accessed
February 1, 2014.
Epidemiology Section, North Carolina Division of Public Health. North Carolina 2012 HIV/STD
Surveillance Report. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services;
2012. http://epi.publichealth.nc.gov/cd/stds/figures/std12rpt.pdf . Accessed February 1, 2014.
EXAMPLES WITH EXPLANATIONS
North Carolina Institute of Medicine Task Force on Prevention. Prevention for the Health of
North Carolina: Prevention Action Plan. Morrisville, NC: North Carolina Institute of Medicine;
2009. http://www.nciom.org/wp-
content/uploads/NCIOM/projects/prevention/finalreport/PreventionReport-July2010.pdf.
Accessed August 5, 2011.
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This is how to cite pdf report documents using a website link. You basically do the full
citation (from North Carolina…to 2009) and then list the link and the accessed date. I always
say “accessed” rather than “retrieved.” If you don’t have the accessed date, just leave it out.
No need to put an “updated” date on this type of reference, because the date of the
publication is already listed.
Also, I always put periods at the end of urls.
Publications like this (pdf reports) are always in italics
North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
2010 BRFSS topics for Durham County. North Carolina Department of Health and Human
Services website. http://www.schs.state.nc.us/SCHS/brfss/2010/durh/topics.html#pcs. Accessed
August 30, 2011. Updated July 14, 2011.
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In this case, NCSCHS is the author and NCDHHS hosts the website.
I added “2010 BRFSS topics….” because that is the “name” of the page.
If this citation is linked to a more specific topic on the page (and it looks like it is linked to
prostate cancer screening?) then I would list that too, after “2010 BRFSS topics for Durham
County.” Example:
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. 2010 BRFSS topics for Durham County.
Prostate cancer screening. North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics website.
http://www.schs.state.nc.us/SCHS/brfss/2010/durh/topics.html#pcs. Accessed August 30,
2011.
No need for “on” – just “Accessed” with the date.
I added “updated” so you can see what that would look like. The only time I don’t add that
info in (unless I just don’t have it) is if the accessed date is before the updated date.
North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics. 2011 County Health Data Book. North
Carolina Department of Health and Human Services website.
http://www.schs.state.nc.us/SCHS/data/databook/. Accessed August 1, 2011. Published
November 2010. Updated March 25, 2011.
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Always include “North Carolina” – ie, not just “State Center for Health Statistics.”
Always spell out North Carolina unless the agency specifically only uses NC – which is rare,
I think.
This reference is just like the one above.
I added the published date and the updated date.
2009 American Community Survey. U.S. Census Bureau website. http://factfinder.census.gov/.
Accessed August 2, 2011.
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This reference is incomplete. This Survey is HUGE – what part of it did they use? Is it the
2009 American Community Survey, or is it one that spans (like 2005-2009, etc). Once you
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have the correct parts of this citation, it would be formatted in the same way that the two
above are. US Census Bureau is the author (goes first), American Community Survey is NOT
in italics unless it’s a pdf report, and the link should be as precise as possible.
It appears that the author and the agency responsible for the website are the same, so you
only list it once, as the website (U.S. Census Bureau).
State Center for Health Statistics, Baby Book.
http://www.schs.state.nc.us/SCHS/data/county.cfm. Accessed on August 13, 2010.
This link doesn’t show the Baby Book – the link needs to be more dialed in on the right thing.
This is a more general link to all the data that is available. You also need to know what year
Baby Book they are talking about. Once you have the info, you would format it in the same way
as the SCHS citations above.
North Carolina Injury and Violence Prevention Branch. Violent Death in North Carolina:
Durham County Incidents: 2004-2008. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Department of Health and
Human Services.
http://www.injuryfreenc.ncdhhs.gov/About/2008CountyFactSheetDurhamFINAL.pdf.
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First off, always make sure to look for typos. This person forgot the word “Violence” in the
name of the Branch.
The title of this publications is “Violent Deaths in North Carolina…”, not “The North
Carolina Violent Death Reporting System”
Since it’s a stand alone pdf document, I would italicize and initial capitalize each word. Treat
it the same way you would treat a book title.
Also in the same vein as a book, after the title, you list the place of publication (Raleigh), the
publisher (NCDHHS), and the date (not given on the document, so I have left it out).
After all of that, list the URL and the accessed date if you have it.
This citation is the same as the first on this document (the NCIOM one).
Angle M, Sharpe L. Durham County Schools, Youth Risk Behavior Survey – Spring 2011. Mars
Hill, NC: Richard L. Hoffman Center for Assessment and Research Alliances; 2010.
http://healthydurham.org/docs/Durham%202011%20YRBS%20Report%20Final.pdf. Accessed
February 1, 2014.
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When a report is prepared by an outside organization like this, list the authors first (if you
know their names) and then list the organization as the publisher.
3021 – School wellness policy. Durham Public Schools website. http://www.dpsnc.net/aboutdps/district-policies/523/3021-school-wellness-policy. Updated September 2012. Accessed
February 1, 2014.
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The author and website host are the same, so DPS is only listed once.
Jordan M. Illegal immigrants estimated to account for 1 in 12 U.S. births. Wall Street Journal.
August 12, 2010.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704216804575423641955803732.html?mod=
WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories.
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If you knew the section and page number of the newspaper article you would include it
before the URL and after the date like this: August 12, 2010:C1, C10. (for example) If not,
just leave it out.