What does the Library mean when they ask for the citation?

When a Librarian asks for the citation for a source, we are looking for the complete reference list entry citation. 

The reference citation contains all of the information needed to track down an item, and tell what type of document it is.

In-text citations contains just the author and the year. Unfortunately, that is not enough information for us to locate an item.

Here is an example of an in-text citation, which includes only the author and the year:

(Orwell, 1949)
 

Here is an example of a reference citation, which shows all of the information needed to track down an item: 

Friel, C.J., Bond, I., & Lahoz, M. R. (2015). Improving Health Information Literacy of Early Adolescents Using a Lead Poisoning Curriculum. Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet, 19(3-4), 149-160. 

More information:

• What is a citation?
• How do I get the citation information for an article?
• How do I find an exact or specific article in the Library if I have the reference citation?

Do you have other Library questions?  Ask a Librarian!