I love the process of shaping a manuscript—refining sentences, clarifying ideas, making a book shine. But sources and citations? They make me want to run for the hills. Unfortunately, they’re also essential to credibility, so here’s my quick and dirty guide to getting them done with minimal pain.
(Note: This article is aimed at general nonfiction writers, especially those who are self-publishing. If you are writing an academic or scientific book, chances are you need more formality than what I offer here.)
Citations vs. Basic Fact-checking
I think of sources in two main buckets: citations and basic fact-checking. They require different levels of documentation.
Citations
When I say citations, I mean sources that support specific claims, explanations, data, quotes—the things you would put in footnotes, endnotes, or a bibliography. Citations need to include enough information that readers could find the sources if they so desired.
A bibliography provides a list of books you used in researching and writing your book but that you aren’t attaching to a specific statement.
By contrast, footnotes and endnotes are attached to a specific statement. Footnotes show at the bottom of the page. Endnotes appear at the end of the chapter or the book. Notes can be used purely to cite sources, but some notes are intended to provide more context, an explanation, or a sidenote for the reader.
If you have a large volume of notes, footnotes tend to be better for the explanatory type of note—information the reader will appreciate in the moment without having to flip elsewhere. Endnotes tend to be better for straight citations; as footnotes, citations can become visual clutter, hampering the reading experience.
Ideally, you would not mix the two purposes in the same form of note; you’d put explanations in footnotes and citations in endnotes. But if you have only a handful of notes, I would not worry about that nicety. The occasional footnote citation or explanatory note at the end won’t hurt anyone and might make your life easier.
Pro Tip: In Word, I find it easier to use footnotes while I am working so that I can see them. But when I am done, I often convert them all to endnotes, which can be done on the Reference toolbar.
Fact-checking
When I say fact-checking, I mean looking up basic information to verify it is correct: how to spell Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the distance between San Francisco and New York (about 3,000 miles depending on the route), the elevation of Mount Rainier (14,410 feet at the summit). I also include spelling of words: is it well-being, wellbeing, or well being? (Merriam-Webster says well-being.)
This type of fact-checking is just to ensure correct general information and does not require a citation. However, it helps to keep track of what you’ve checked in case the question comes up again.
Tracking Sources
If you remember only one thing from this article, let it be this: Track your sources as you write. Any time you make a claim, cite a paper, check a fact, or quote someone, track where you got the information. It is difficult if not impossible to backtrack and find sources after the fact.
Source formats
In my quick and dirty process, I typically have three main forms of sources I capture:
- URLs. When a source is available online, I capture the link to the webpage, because that’s the easiest way to get back to it. If it is a long article, I might also capture the relevant paragraph.
- Files. Some sources found online are downloadable. For instance, reports are often available to download as a PDF; it is more efficient to have the readable document than to go back to the URL, open the PDF, and find the info every time you need it.
- Photos. If a client quotes a physical book, I often request they send me a photo of the text so the quote can be verified. You’d be surprised how easy it is to introduce errors when typing out a quote. (And editors don’t usually have every book at their disposal unless they live at the library.)
I find most of the sources I need fit into those three formats, but of course you may come across others.
Tracking tools
I use three simple tools to store these sources:
- A folder in File Explorer. For photos, PDFs, and similar files, I keep a folder labeled Sources in my digital project folder.
- Word’s comment function. If I am simply fact-checking, I use Word’s comment function (on the Review toolbar), attaching the comment to the relevant word or statement. This approach also works fine for initial tracking of citation sources. In the comment, I include the URL to the source or make a statement like “See PDF [name] in the Sources folder.”
- Word’s footnote/endnote tool. If I know a statement will need a citation, I go ahead and add a footnote or endnote (on the References toolbar), even if the only thing I include initially is the URL.
Word also has a function for managing citations and bibliographies (on the References toolbar)—which I have not used (mostly because I haven’t had a reason to explore it, though maybe it’s time!). For more citation-heavy projects, consider exploring more sophisticated tools such as: EndNote, Zotero, RefWorks. I have not used any of them, because most of my projects don’t require anything that advanced.
Citation Style
Different style guides provide different guidance on how to format citations. General nonfiction books use The Chicago Manual of Style, aka Chicago. Others you might hear of include—and they are almost always referred to by their abbreviation—AP (Associated Press), APA (American Psychological Association), MLA (Modern Language Association), and AMA (American Medical Association). Some academic and scientific journals even have their own style. If you are in a specialized field, you need to know which to use—and that is where the more sophisticated reference tools can be helpful in formatting the sources for you.
There are many, many guidelines (too many) for different types of citations, but my advice is: Don’t get tangled up in all the rules. Choose what works for you and be consistent. The goal is to make it possible for the reader to find the source if they really want to.
For most of the general nonfiction work we work on at Clear Sight Books, we stick with Chicago and even simplify it at times. A few common examples:
Books
Book in a footnote or endnote: Author, Book Title (Publisher, YEAR).
Michael J. Cousineau, The Fragrant Path: A Guide to the Japanese Art of Incense (Kikoh Incense, 2024).
Book in a bibliography: Last, First. Book Title. Publisher, YEAR.
Cousineau, Michael J. The Fragrant Path: A Guide to the Japanese Art of Incense. Kikoh Incense, 2024.
Articles
Article in a footnote or endnote: Author, “Article Title,” Journal Title Vol. #, no. #, (Date): page, URL (optional).
J. M. Harlow, “Recovery from the passage of an iron bar through the head,” History of Psychiatry 4 (1993): 271–81, https://doi.org/10.1177/0957154X9300401406.
Article in a bibliography: Author. “Article Title.” Journal Title Vol. #, no. # (Date): page. URL (optional).
Harlow, J. M. “Recovery from the passage of an iron bar through the head.” History of Psychiatry 4, (1993): 271–81.
Oy. Do you see all the variations in punctuation? Soooo tedious! And can you imagine how many other types of sources you may need to cite? Websites, videos, recordings, unpublished documents, and on and on. They all have their own rules!
So if you do citations regularly, you can see why a reference management tool would be useful. You enter the data once, then let the tool provide the proper format for the type of source and the editorial style you want.
But note that if style guides and journals can make their own rules…you can too! Wanna use all periods? Fine. Avoid parentheses? Great. Skip the URL? No problem. Again, the goal is to give your readers enough information to find the source, not to prove you can follow someone else’s rules.
Keep It Simple
Citations and sources may not be the most exciting part of writing, but they are essential for credibility. Track your sources as you go, choose a consistent style, and use tools that make the process easier. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s making sure your readers can trust your work.
Yup, we do help authors with citations (groan). If you need help, get in touch (if you must…sigh) at karin@clearsightbooks.com. 😉