Anthropology Citation Guidelines

For instance, if an NGO called Forest Research had a website with information on forests, this citation would probably not be acceptable because it uses an unrefereed web document to support a scientific conclusion:

The rate of deforestation of tropical rainforests climbed dramatically during the 1980s (Forest Research 1998).

However the website could be cited in a context like this:

The rate of deforestation of tropical rainforests climbed dramatically during the 1980s (Smith 1997), and this stimulated the growth of NGO's that circulated reports on forest protection (e.g., Forest Research 1998).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Forest Research. 1998. "What Is Happening to Tropical Rainforests?" Report available at http://www.forest.org/reports/what001.html, Jan 1.

Smith, W. 1997 Estimates of the Rate of Tropical Rainforest Loss. Ecology 56:129-145. www.forest.org/reports/smith.html, Jan 1 1998.

 

What kinds of sources may be to support claims is often a judgement call; if in doubt, it may be a good compromise to distance yourself from the source. For instance, rather than saying this

Use of genetically modified crops in developing countries rose by 19% last year (Smith 2001), but already the effects of the technology have been disastrous (Shiva 2001)

you might want to say

The Organization of Agro-Biotechnology Companies claims use of genetically modified crops in developing countries rose by 19% last year (Smith 2001), but activist Vandana Shiva (2001) sees the effects of the technology as disastrous.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Smith, Arnold (2001) GM Crops Are Benefitting Developing Countries. Report for the Organization of Agro-Biotechnology Companies, 30 June. http://main.oabc.com/reports/smith2001.pdf

Shiva, Vandana (2001) Farmers, Biotech and Poverty. Research Foundation on Science and Technology, Delhi.

 

In any event, it is almost never acceptable to identify a source merely by title and URL; the bibliography must clearly identify each source. For instance these references are unacceptable:

Smith, Arnold (2002) Life is a carnival. www.arnoldsmith.net/Life.html

Stone, Glenn Davis. Biotechnology and Suicide in India. http://artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/research/biotech_suicide.html

but these are fine:

Smith, Arnold (2002) Life is a carnival. Unpublished undergraduate research paper on file at Dept. of Biology, Pork Corner Community College, Pittsfield IL. ww.arnoldsmith.net/Life.html

Stone, Glenn Davis. (2002) Biotechnology and Suicide in India. Anthropology News, Vol 43(5):5. Enhanced online version at http://artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/research/biotech_suicide.html.

The high value of water reflects the fact that "it is difficult to carry and store in large quantities when only elementary implements are available, such as pitchers and gourds" (Butt 1977:12). Chisholm (1979:102) regards as atypical cases where the attraction value of water is low, such as the settlement patterns of the Ngwa (Morgan 1955b).

Early Neolithic villages in the Aegean (Renfrew 1972) and Japan (Watson 1977) are estimated to have had populations of a few hundred, and similar villages appear in the initial Neolithic in Scandinavia (Kristiansen 1982). A well-known example of agricultural colonization of the temperate forest is the LBK culture of central and southern Europe, with their small farmstead villages of longhouses, supported by a mixed economy. There is evidence for settlement continuity among the LBK even under conditions of low population density (Hamond 1981).

References are then listed at the end of the paper, NOT in footnotes or endnotes.

Use any bibliographic format that displays publication dates prominently, e.g.:

   Butt, Audrey J.
     1977  Land use and Social Organization of Tropical Forest Peoples
      of the Guianas.  In Human Ecology in the Tropics, edited 
      by J.P. Garlick and R.W. Keay, pp. 1-17.  Taylor & Francis, London.
   Chisholm, Michael
     1979  Rural Settlement and Land Use: An Essay in Location, 3rd Ed.
      Hutchinson University Library, London.

   Morgan, W.B.
    1955a  The Change From Shifting to Fixed Settlement in Southern Nigeria.
      Dept. of Geography, University of Ibadan, Research Notes  7:1-14.
    1955b  Farming Practice, Settlement Pattern and Population Density in 
      South-eastern Nigeria.  The Geographical Journal 21:320-333.

One of the most important parts of writing research papers is learning how to support your statements with scholarly citations. Of the many situations requiring a supporting citation, these are probably the most important:

• Anything you quote directly must be fully referenced (including page number). (A possible exception would be a quote that is so well known that it has become part of the scholarly lexicon, such as "Men make their own history, but not as they please.")
• Any distinctive idea, concept, argument, or finding that is strongly associated with a particular source should be referenced: e.g., Smallholder farming has parallel features in highly diverse economic and ecologic situations (Netting 1993). But don't provide reference support for common knowledge: e.g., Anthropology has a long-standing interest in Third World cultures (Malinowski 1922; Mead 1928; Radcliffe-Brown 1948; Steward 1955; Stone 1996).