Citation Styles
There are thousands of citation styles, many of which are used by particular journals or are variations of major styles. Learn more about the common styles at Major Citation Styles.
Handouts
Librarian
Background Research: Bibliographies & Data
- Oxford Bibliographies Online: Latin American StudiesAnnotated bibliographies on topics in Latin American Studies that identify the most important scholarship on a given topic.
Browse Oxford Bibliographies Online: Latin American Studies for city, or topic. A few examples are highlighted:
Or use the search bar in OBO to look for more narrow concepts, theories, particular films, directors, etc.
- Sources for Country DataResearch guide for sources (e.g. WorldBank, OECD) on country statistics
Background Research: Handbooks & Companions
Handbooks and "companions to..." can be great sources for scholarly overviews of a topic. Often the editor of a particular book asks an expert in the field to write a chapter on their particular area of expertise that gets compiled into the handbook. A few example titles:
Assess & Evaluate
Who is the author?
- What does the author know about the subject?
- Where do you find credentials for an author?
- What biases does the author have?
- There are different types of authority depending on one's experience, education, or position.
Who is the intended audience of the resource?
- Consider the tone and style
- What level of information is provided?
- What assumptions does the author make about the reader?
Is the text peer-reviewed?
- Peer-review is when a text is reviewed by one or more experts on a particular topic prior to publication.
What is the scope and coverage of the resource?
When was the item written or published?
- Is it timely or outdated?
Evaluate the sources cited by the author.
- Do they provide citations?
- Is there enough evidence to support their argument or claim?