FamilySearch Wiki:Source Citation Formats

	This page documents a guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that contributors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense and the occasional exception.
Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

The FamilySearch Research Wiki strongly encourages the use of source citations in all of its articles to help individuals find places to look for further research and to show the strength of the source materials. There is no one way to create a source. You will find many sources in the reference section of wiki pages are using The Chicago Manual of Style, but all are acceptable. If you don't know what to include in a source, use the following guidelines to cite your sources:

1. Include a citation reference showing where information came from. Any widely-accepted style is acceptable, but the style should remain consistent throughout the article.
   
2. If you do not know a specific citation style, simply add all of the information you can about the source and place punctuation between the different parts of the source. The important thing is to get the information down. A source citation consists of:
   • Author
   • Title
   • Publication Information
   • Date (if a website, the date the information was accessed)
   • Page Number
3. Keep the citation style consistent within an article. The first contributor to add a reference to an article sets the style for that article.

Examples of Citations

There are several handbooks that can help you improve the style of your source footnotes. They are guides and don't have to be conformed to. They differ slightly in their suggestions.

Book Format Example

 Author(s), ''Title'' (Place of publication: Publisher, year of publication), volume: page number(s), [book call number; microfilm call number]. Digitized by Repository at URL (accessed date).
 

Book Example

Clement Luther Martzolff, FamilySearch Digital Library (New Lexington, Ohio: Ward & Weiland, 1902), 144-46. [FS Library book 977.159 H2m; FS Library film 897280 Item 2]. Digitized by BYU Family History Archives (accessed 20 January 2009).
 

Website Format Example

Author(s),''Page-Title'' in Site-Title at URL (accessed date). Comment. 

Website Example

National Genealogical Society, Standards for Sharing Information with Others in National Genealogical Society (Internet site), at www.ngsgenealogy.org/comstandsharing.htm (accessed 11 November 2003).

More Help on Citing Sources in the Wiki

• Refer to the following wiki article for more guidance: Cite Your Sources (Source Footnotes)
  

Websites Assisting in Citing Sources

The following sites have tools that assist in the automatic creation of source citations:

• BibMe.org
• Worldcat
• Zotero

Genealogy Specific Citations

The Elizabeth Shown Mills style is preferred by genealogists in the United States because it is a genealogically-targeted adaptation of the popular Chicago and Turabian styles. It is also endorsed as the preferred style of the Board for Certification of Genealogists.

See also

• FamilySearch Wiki:Verifiable - policy about sources
• Cite Your Sources (Source Footnotes)