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Thesis Tips

CAUTION:

If you use a citation manager tool (EndNote, RefWorks, Zotero, etc.), do not trust that it is 100% correct. 

Look at the citations in your reference lists ONE BY ONE and make sure they follow the rules.

Anatomy of a Journal Article Citation

Most of your references will be journal articles.

Four main parts to an article citation:

  • Author—who is responsible for writing?
  • Date—date the article was published
  • Title of Article—title of the article
  • Source—where the reader can find the article

For each section, pay attention to:

  • appropriate punctuation between sections
  • proper capitalization rules for each section
  • font formatting for each section--which parts should be in italics

Capitalization of Various Document Types

Document type

Capitalization

Example

Notes

Journal article title

Sentence-case

Simplified versus conventional complete dentures: A randomized crossover clinical trial.
  • First word and first word after colon, plus any proper nouns or acronyms capitalized

Journal title

Title-case

The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry
  • In italics.
  • Not abbreviated—written out fully

Book chapter title

Sentence-case

Mechanical properties of solids.
  • First word and first word after colon, plus any proper nouns or acronyms capitalized

Book title

Sentence-case

 Phillips’ science of dental materials (Thirteenth edition.).
  • In italics
  • Include edition, if available

Thesis title

Sentence-case

Microbiologic outcomes of non-surgical treatment of peri-implant diseases with and without the use of adjunctive antimicrobial photodynamic therapy: A randomized controlled trial
  • First word and subtitle first word, plus any proper nouns or acronyms capitalized
  • In italics

APA Citation Helpful Resources