I have not posted anything for a week or so but came across this useful item for those who want to get it right when they get to the references section of a paper they are submitting to this or any other scholarly journal. It is timely because, increasingly, information is being used that comes from social media. But how to cite it?   The author is Camille Gamboa at SAGE US.

She writes: ” As it seems that social media will only play a bigger role in future research of all disciplines, I took to doing my own research on how Facebook posts, tweets, YouTube videos, etc. should be cited in academic publications. I came across the following table from TeachBytes that I thought would be helpful to share …

The Chicago Manual of Style

Not included in her chart (see below) is what she out about how to cite social media outlets following the Chicago Manual of Style.  Apparently there are not yet any official guides for Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.

Blog Posts:

Firstname Lastname, “Title of the Blog Post Entry,” title or description of the blog with (blog), Date posted, url.  * Note – “(blog)” does not need to be included if the word “blog” is part of the name of the blog already. Citations of blog posts are part of the notes and not included in the bibliography unless they are frequently cited in one paper.

Emails:

Firstname Lastname, email message to XX, Date. Citations of emails are usually provided in a note and are rarely listed in a bibliography. Email addresses should not be included.

The chart she mentions is on the website below and applies to MLA and APA publications:

http://connection.sagepub.com/blog/2013/09/17/how-to-cite-social-media-in-scholarly-writing/