Database citation generators: generating what, exactly?

Like ours, your writing center has probably seen this scenario many times: the timid freshman (or harried junior) brings in her research paper for review. She is concerned about the usual issues (e.g., correctness, evidence), but when you get to the References or the Works Cited page, you are stopped cold. The citation page before you is incomprehensible. The pieces are there, but they are in such strange order and with such an odd assortment of extraneous elements that you wonder what this student might have been thinking. You politely ask about these entries, and then comes another shock: "Oh, I got the citation from EBSCO with the article. Isn't it great?"

Students see EBSCO citation generators as an easy, mechanical way to create References or Works Cited pages. While they are correct about both the ease and the mechanical nature of the process, they are wrong to assume that the result will be an error-free page. Often, the citation is clearly wrong and doesn't respect the formatting conventions of the discipline, any discipline. However, this database-generated citation also provides an opportunity--a teaching moment, if you will--to guide the student into looking carefully at the citation, to suggest revision strategies that accord with appropriate documentation practices, and to illustrate that computers don't absolve humans from the need for critical thinking. In order to do that, though, our tutors themselves must be able to view documentation critically and to understand that they must know why a documentation style works as it does in order to apply its rules correctly. This article will examine some samples from database citation generators, note how they do or do not align with documentation styles, and then consider how a tutor might approach this with the student/writer.

DATABASES WITH CITATION GENERATORS

Many databases provide their users with formatted bibliographic information if the article is printed or emailed. EBSCO and ProQuest are two of these database providers. The user has the option of requesting that the citation be given in one of several different styles, among them MLA, APA, and AMA.

MLA

MLA is taught in most high school English classes and is often regarded as the most user-friendly of the documentation styles, so students should have the ability to know whether the final entry is correct or not. The following entry was taken from page 230 of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th Edition:

Youakim, Sami. "Work-Related Asthma." American Family Physician 64 (2001): 1839-52. Health Reference Center. Gale. Bergen County Cooperative Lib. System, NJ. 12 Jan. 2002 <http://www.galegroup.com/>.

Notice that the appropriate URL (and the one given here) is the URL for the subscription service. It is neither the persistent link to the article nor the URL from the location bar. To quote MLA Handbook for Readers of Research Papers, 6th edition, "If you know the URL of the service's homepage, give it, in angle brackets, immediately after the date of access, or you many simply end with the date of access" (Gibaldi 229). Compare this to the citation from EBSCO:

Youakim, Sami. "Work-Related Asthma." American Family Physician 64.11 (01 Dec. 2001): 1839. Biomedical Reference Collection: Comprehensive. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 17 Apr. 2008 <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=byh&AN=5646278&site=ehost-live>. <!--Additional Information: <Persistent link to this record: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=byh&AN=5646278&site=ehost-live> End of citation-->

Comparing these citations, the differences are legion:

* The correct citation is double spaced, while the generated citation is single-spaced.

* Instead of showing the volume year (as the first citation does), the entire date (day/month/year) is given in the second entry.

* The MLA handbook citation has no issue number, but the database citation does. Since the article is continuously paginated, as the handbook points out, issue numbers are irrelevant to locating the article, so they are not included in the citation.

* The first citation gives the range of pages for the article. The second gives only the first page.

* Instead of giving the URL for the database or even the URL of the library database from which it was accessed, the second citation gives the persistent link for the article. The persistent link is given a second time in the additional information. [Note: a persistent link is not the same as the URL that appears in the location bar when the user has accessed the article. The location bar URL reflects the path that the user took to reach the article, and it won't necessarily work again. The persistent link is a permanent designation for that article, reliably returning its user to that article in the future.]

Now look at the same article entry taken from the ProQuest Medical Library database's citation:

Sami Youakim. "Work-related asthma. " American Family Physician 64.11 (2001): 1839-48. ProQuest Medical Library. ProQuest. ***INSERT Library name or system, City, State***. 17 Apr. 2008 <http://www.proquest.com/>.

In this entry, the URL is correctly given and it is double spaced, both unlike the EBSCO example. However, this one also has its share of errors. To wit--

* The author's name is shown first-name-first rather than last-name-first.

* The periodical name is neither underlined nor italicized.

* The issue number is given even though the journal is continuously paginated.

* It is left justified rather than having a hanging indent.

* The page range is wrong.

* The database name should be underlined, and it is not.

These are not isolated examples. Of eight MLA citations randomly selected from two EBSCO searches, the average number of errors per entry was 3.38. None were double spaced. All included the persistent link, which is a gray area. MLA doesn't mention or require this. Of six MLA citations randomly selected from one ProQuest search, the average number of errors per entry was 5.83. Only one was double spaced, none had hanging indents, and the authors' names were all in first-name-first order.

APA

The second documentation style that students commonly use is APA, used in the social sciences. The following citation is taken from page 279 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed. It is for an abstract retrieved from a database.

Fournier, M., de Ridder, D., & Bensing, J. (1999). Optimism and adaptation to multiple sclerosis: What does optimism mean? Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 22, 303-326. Abstract retrieved October 23, 2000, from PsycINFO database.

See ProQuest Medical Library's APA citation below:

Marijda Fournier, Denise de Ridder, Jozien Bensing. (1999). Optimism and Adaptation to Multiple Sclerosis: What Does Optimism Mean? Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 22(4), 303-326. Retrieved May 14, 2008, from ProQuest Medical Library database. (Document ID: 976886231).

This is closer to the correct citation than the MLA example, but there continue to be discrepancies between this and the

APA manual. See below:

* Names are given completely with first-name-first, then last name, rather than last names given first with first initials.

* Every major word in the article's title is capitalized rather than only the first word.

* The issue number is included even though the journal is continuously paginated.

* It doesn't specify abstract, although I did retrieve an abstract.

* It gives a document ID, but going back to this database, there was no clear way to use it to find the article.

Like the MLA citations, the APA citations were flawed. Of ten APA citations taken randomly from one ProQuest search, the average number of errors per entry was 7.5. None of these entries used hanging indents, the authors' full names were used uniformly (rather than first initials), and their names were shown in first-name-first order. All were single spaced. None of the journal titles were in italics. EBSCO faired somewhat better. Of ten APA citations retrieved in two searches, the average number of errors per entry was 4.2 However, none of the entries was double spaced, and only the authors' first initials were given even when the article provided both first and middle names or both initials.

AMA

American Medical Association documentation style is quite different from MLA or APA. It uses a citation-sequence method of documentation, which lists sources on the References page in their order of occurrence in the paper. AMA also uses abbreviated titles of journals as indicated in the Abridged Index Medicus, which is included in PubMed (a database published by the National Library of Medicine). AMA style's perspective on citing format (i.e., print or online) is different from MLA's. Since the concern is the difference between versions, it matters whether an online article is a PDF file or an HTML file; a PDF file is an image of the print document and won't change, while HTML files may be corrected or amended.

AMA style requires its users to give the version of the source that they used, but it is suspicious of URLs, especially those taken from location bars. It specifies users include the DOI (digital object identifier number) or the PMID (PubMed identification number), not the URL, when those identifiers are available. No date of access is required with either a DOI or a PMID (Iverson, et al. 65). While students adapt fairly easily to those general concepts, they still must understand the characteristics of the source (e.g., journal or magazine, paginated by issue or continuously paginated) in order to document it correctly. Therein lies the rub.

The following example was taken from page 65 of the AMA Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors, 10th edition. Example:

1. Kitajima TS, Kawashima SA, Watanabe Y. The conserved kinetochore protein shugoshin protects centromeric cohesion during meiosis. Nature 2004;427(6974):510-517. DOI:10-1038/ nature02312.

Notice EBSCO's citation for this example below:

Kitajima T, Kawashima S, Watanabe Y. The conserved kinetochore protein shugoshin protects centromeric cohesion during meiosis. Nature [serial online]. February 05, 2004;427(6974):510517. Available from: Biomedical Reference Collection: Comprehensive, Ipswich, MA. Accessed April 23, 2008. <!--Additional Information:

Persistent link to this record: <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=byh &AN=12183937&site=ehost-live> End of citation-->

Once again, this is far different from the accepted AMA format:

* It has no citation number.

* It uses a hanging indent.

* It designates Nature as a serial online, but the article is a PDF copy of the print version.

* It uses the whole date, not the volume year.

* It gives the database, its city and state, the date of access, and the persistent link (as additional information) instead of the DOI.

As in the MLA and APA citations, errors occurred in varying degrees in the EBSCO AMA citations I examined. Of eight randomly selected entries from three searches, the average number of errors per entry was 5.75. All these entries had a hanging indent. There was also confusion about what constituted a serial online. ProQuest fared more poorly. Out of eight randomly selected AMA citations from three searches, the average number of errors per entry was 6.25. All authors' names were given fully (no use of initials) and were given in first-name-first order. DOIs were not properly cited. Unless the original article used et al. correctly and listed only part of the names, the database listed all authors, no matter how numerous.

Now, the databases do not necessarily expect writers to use their citations as they are. ProQuest provides the following statement and link at the bottom of the screen under !ATTENTION: "Ensure the accuracy and completeness of your bibliography by following these instructions." The link leads to a page of templates and examples that assume the user understands the characteristics of the periodical in question (e.g., continuously paginated). However, the templates are not easy to read and therefore not easy to use, and they are wrong in some aspects, such as capitalization. EBSCO has a similar link with equally problematic information. So there is better information in these databases, but it isn't provided in a way that a student can easily use. But what about a writing tutor?

A WRITING TUTOR'S RESPONSE

Given the mantra of writing centers--to make better writers, not just better papers--the writing tutor has to find a way to make this problem comprehensible to this student, to use it as an opening for a lesson on citations. The student needs to understand what is wrong with the citation in order to correct it and to understand the underlying logic behind the change. Without this knowledge, documentation will never be more than a series of unrelated bits of information, and the user will likely never be capable of using documentation styles well, with or without a manual in hand. So what should a tutor do to help this student document properly?

In order to demonstrate to students that the citations they are using are wrong and guide them to ones that are correct, the tutor should (1) ascertain the writer's experience level with that style; (2) show the writer a correct example of the style, preferably using a reference; (3) refer to the underlying discipline (e.g., social sciences) in explaining this style to the writer, pointing out why these characteristics exist, (4) then use that example to guide the writer in comparing the two citations.

DETERMINE THE WRITER'S EXPERIENCE LEVEL

First, the tutor needs to find out what the writer's actual experience is with this documentation style. How much does he know about this style and the information it requires? Does he understand the order? For example, a tutor might begin by chatting with the writer about his MLA experiences, asking specific questions about what he remembers about formatting, about volume numbers and pagination, about URLs. Responding to the tutor's questions should serve to refresh the writer's memory, making the subsequent transition from the incorrect citation to the correct one relatively easy.

SHOW A CORRECT EXAMPLE

Showing the writer a correct citation is a good idea. This clarifies the student's thinking. If the writer has little experience with the documentation style at hand, then a correct example is critical to the writer's understanding of the problem. The tutor finds a correct citation of this style and goes over it with the writer, explaining each element and why it is there. (This would be a good opportunity to introduce a reference manual into the conversation, both to eliminate any questions about the citation's validity and to model the reference manual's use for the student.) The less experience the student has with a style, the more detailed and precise the tutor's description needs to be.

REFERENCE DISCIPLINARY VALUES

As the tutor explains the citation to the student, she should relate it to the values of the discipline that uses this documentation style. This provides the student with a rationale for the differences between styles. It also gives the student a "big picture," making the specifics of documenting easier for the student to remember and to accept.

For example, the tutor might explain the difference between APA's treatment of authors' names (last name, first initial) and MLA's treatment (last name, first name) by referring to the difference between the social sciences and humanities. In the social sciences, the focus is on the research findings, not on the authors' creativity or individuality, as it is in the humanities. Giving only a first initial shortens the author's name and makes it less personal, therefore making the name less emphatic in APA than in MLA. In another example, the tutor might explain AMA's organization of its References page (i.e., order of occurrence in the paper) by pointing out that AMA is a medical style. It emphasizes research findings, not authors, since the value of the findings must go beyond the authors' work. Listing the sources in their order of occurrence on the References page de-emphasizes the authors' names. AMA also regards the findings (i.e., the article's content) as stable and lasting, which explains the permanent nature of its article identifiers, DOI and PMID.

COMPARE CITATIONS

Once the tutor has gone over the correct example, she must segue back to the student's citation. At this point, the tutor might ask the student to compare the two citations, element by element, explaining what he would keep, what he would discard, and what he would change in his original citation. As the student progresses, the tutor follows along, commending the student when his decisions are correct and interceding when they are not. This enables the student to implement what he has learned and to own the correct citation he develops.

CONCLUSION

At present, databases such as EBSCO and ProQuest don't effectively discriminate between various documentation styles. They mix and match conventions, such as using MLA's hanging indent in an AMA example. These databases use their own internal formatting rather than looking to the standard disciplinary norms. Typically, the citations they provide to students reflect some of the characteristics of a citation style but not all, and they reflect no basic understanding of any style's underlying assumptions. Pagination--either continuous or by volume, spacing, capitalization, presentation of dates--and links are all issues that seem to be in dispute here.

As flawed as these generated citations seem, they do provide opportunities to show students the basic workings of documentation and to enable students to identify errors generated by Web-based applications. Tutors must use these peculiarities to demonstrate the differences in styles to writers. No documentation formula releases its user from the thoughtful application of critical inquiry or careful scrutiny, but it can provide an opportunity to develop these skills with our support. F

Works Cited

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003.

Iverson, Cheryl, Stacy Christensen, and Annette Flanagan, et al. AMA Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors. 10th ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2007.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. New York: American Psychological Association, 2001.

Susan Mueller

St. Louis College of Pharmacy 

St. Louis, MO