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French & Francophone Studies

Citing Sources

Citations are key to participating in the scholarly community. They are a way to converse with other scholars, but they also:

  • Give fair credit to others for their ideas, creations, and expressions.
  • Back up claims and statements.
  • Provide a way for an interested reader to learn more.
  • Support academic integrity.

Consult Citation Tools to learn more about different citation styles.  Collins Library also supports two knowledge management tools:  RefWorks and Zotero.

MLA Style Guide

You should always should check with your professor to make sure which citation style to use. See the Collins Library quick MLA citation guide for commonly used types of sources, or consult the full book.

MLA Style for French

The citation style most commonly used in French Studies is the MLA style. However, you always should check with your professor to make sure which citation style to use.

Although the MLA style works for both English- and French-language materials, there are some specific differences to be aware of:

  • When citing French titles, capitalize only the first letter and proper nouns:

Du côté de chez Swann.

  • When arranging the "Works Cited" list alphabetically by surname, the French de following a first name or a title is not included as part of the surname (with some exceptions):

Maupassant, Guy de.

However, when the surname has just one syllable, the "de" typically does precede:

de Gaulle, Charles.

Sound Writing

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Sound Writing is the official writing handbook on campus, written by student writing advisors and specifically tailored to the needs of Puget Sound students and their faculty.

In addition to supporting the development of successful academic writing skills, Sound Writing also includes sections on research methods, writing in the disciplines, and more.

Sound Writing provides help with three citation styles: MLA, APA, and Chicago (notes & bibliography).

Current Edition: 2020

Get Help at CWL

The Center for Writing & Learning (CWL), located in Howarth 109, offers students opportunities to get help on all aspects of the writing process.  Services include:

  • Writing Advisors who are selected through a rigorous application process and who are specially trained to help students get started on a paper, organize their thoughts, or improve their editing skills.
  • Peer Tutors in a wide range of subjects who are nominated by professors in their disciplines and who are specially trained to help students individually or in small groups.
  • Language Partners who work with multilingual students to help them navigate the conventions and quirks of academic English writing.
  • Academic Consultants who are specially trained to help students improve their time management skills, organization, study skills, and test-taking strategies.

Guides to Research and Writing

Additional Resources

There are several additional reliable and thorough guides to citation styles available online: