Understanding citations: publication forms (6/8)

When dealing with both citation search and topic search, you will come across different publication forms. You will mostly encounter books, articles from journals or edited collections, and information published online. Books in the form of monographs are usually written by one person and deal with one topic in detail. An edited collection is also a book. However, it is edited by one or more persons and contains several articles written by different people. Articles (essays, papers) can also be published in journals. They usually present the current state of research in their field.

Before you can proceed with citation search, you should be able to “read” references. It is a crucial skill since references contain clues that can help you recognise the type of publication. For example, two titles mentioned in one reference suggest it is an article published in an edited collection or a journal. A page range also indicates an article. A reference to the book editor means you are dealing with an edited book. If you spot a volume number, you should know that the citation refers to a journal or a journal article.

Check out this guide prepared by the UC Berkeley Library for more tips on recognising different publication types from references.