Citing Sources

We cite our sources so that others are able to find the same document or piece of information, and validate it as an accurate, authentic, and high quality source. We also may need to refer back to our sources from time to time, such as in the event of conflicting information and needing to compare original records. Cite sources on your research logs and notes as you go, so you can easily reference them, and later compile them into footnotes or end-notes when writing your conclusion.

When learning how to cite sources for genealogy, there are four specific guides I recommend (affiliate links):

  1. Board for Certification of Genealogists. Genealogy Standards, second edition. Nashville, TN: Ancestry, 2019.

  2. Jones, Thomas W. Mastering Genealogical Documentation. Arlington, VA: National Genealogical Society, 2017.

  3. Mills, Elizabeth Shown. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace. 3rd Ed. Rev. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 2017.

  4. University of Chicago Press. The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017.

Genealogists should adhere to Genealogy Standards from the Board for Certification of Genealogy, which lists The Chicago Manual of Style as the first guide for formatting citations. Specifically, the Chicago Manual’s humanities style with reference notes (either footnotes or end notes) or bibliography (also called source list). Standard examples are given by genealogy expert Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG in her book Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace (which is listed as the second guide). You can find this information in Chapter 2, item 6 of Genealogy Standards. I highly recommend Evidence Explained for examples of genealogy specific citations. Mills also has a QuickSheet available for purchase that tells what to cite, and in what order, for several different kinds of records. Her website has many helpful examples as well.

Citations may look different for various types of records. Depending on the type of source material, whether it is a 1930 U.S. Federal Census found on Ancestry.com or a Family Bible found in your grandmother’s attic, you will have to use a slightly different type of citation in order to explain how you accessed the information. In his book, Mastering Genealogical Documentation, Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL, FASG, FNGS, FUGA, examines the different types of sources you’ll come across and how to logically cite them.

I highly recommend purchasing these books, at the minimum, and classes or workshops if you can as well. Learning how to cite properly is something I still struggle with, as there is a lot to learn.

That said, the most important thing to do is to write down a full citation, with all of the necessary information, then later make sure it’s properly formatted at the time of publication. Even if you don’t intend to publish your research, either for family or for other researchers, take a look at your source list and correct your citations every now and then. If you were to find your own notes from a few years ago, would you be able to use your citations to find and examine the same sources again?

Here’s the general information you want to capture in your notes to create a citation, if applicable:

  • Author(s) and Editors

  • Title of Book or Article

  • Publication Title (if an article)

  • Publisher

  • Publish Location

  • Year of Publication

  • Edition

  • Page number(s)

  • Website Name

  • Website URL

  • When you accessed the website

  • Other relevant data based on type of source (such as census year, place, roll, enumeration district, etc. if a census record for example)

  • Your notes about the source, including ancestors names

In general, the above information is usually in the following order:

Author. Title, edition, publisher location: publisher name, year published.

When citing records, I believe the most important things to do are:

  • providing the necessary information for others and yourself to find your sources

  • being consistent in your citations throughout your work

  • documenting as you work, in your notes and as you upload and save files, so that each piece of information is linked to it’s source

  • adhering to Genealogy Standards and the correct method for formatting sources if ever publishing your work, sharing with others, or writing reports

  • following any applicable citation rules if submitting to publications, membership groups, or certification programs, as they often have their own strict standards that may be different

One more thing I want to stress: in your research notes, each fact should be linked to a source. So if you have a date of birth for an individual, you should be able to easily reference each source that confirms that fact. It’s a good idea to plan ahead of time how this will look while you are researching. In my work, I keep a working list of sources with full citations that I reference in shorthand within the notes.

You can choose if you want to use reference notes, either footnotes or endnotes (not both), or a source list, also called bibliography. If you chose one style of the notes, footnotes or endnotes, you should include a biography at the end as well. Alternatively, you may decide to only use a biography / source list.

There are different formatting styles for notes or source lists. Both footnotes and endnotes use sequential superscript numbers within the text, such as after a newly introduced fact or quote, with the same numbered citation shown either at the bottom of the page (footnotes) or at the end of the work (endnotes). Reference notes may use a full citation the first time a record is cited, and shorter citations in subsequent notes.

Also in footnotes they use commas to separate the facts (or semicolons if needed), while a bibliography would often use a period instead of a comma. Bibliographies may not include the most specific information, such as page numbers, or notes from the author.

Here is an example of a citation for a book with a single author, using reference notes style:

3. Elizabeth Shown Mills. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 2007)

Note the number would reference the subscript number in the text, and be shown in order. Here is the same book with a single author formatted for a source list:

Mills, Elizabeth Shown. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 2007.

Only minor differences between reference notes and the source list entry. Note all entries in a source list would appear in alphabetical order in the list, and the list would appear at the end of your research. If using endnotes with a bibliography, the endnotes would appear after the research followed by the bibliography in the last section.

The last type of citation is called a source label, in which you capture a citation on a document like a transcription or photocopy of a record to help keep track of it. Be careful not to damage an original record.

Some more tips on citing sources:

  • You can find source information on the inside title page of a book. Online database sites will also offer a description of the source - in FamilySearch.org you can find it in the Information tab in the bottom of the record viewer for example.

  • If there is no publisher, place of publication, or publishing date, you may say “no publisher” or “no place” or “no date”, or use abbreviations “n.p.” or “n.d.”

  • It is not necessary to say “p” or “pg” or “pp” before the page numbers when citing, though some still do. In the same manner, it is not necessary to abbreviate Vol. or use Volume along with a page number(s), instead of of “Vol. 3 p. 650” you would write “3: 650” without the quotation marks.

  • Find a way to organize your citations while researching so that you can easily access them and refer to them as needed, and so they don’t get separated from your data. Some people use a numbering system of their own design, to easily refer to sources on research logs or notes.

Additional References: