DLLC Style
Decency LLC’s In-House Citation Style Guide
Last updated: July 8, 2024
Table of Contents
1. Citations in Short Pieces (<2,000 words)
2. Citations in Longer Pieces
2.1. Form of In-Text Citations
2.2. Formatting the Reference List
2.3. Additional Examples
1. Citations in Short Pieces
Citations in short pieces, such as blog posts and other online posts roughly under 2,000 words, should be included as in-text links to the source material.
Example: The prevalence of diabetes increased between 2001 and 2020.
In this example, the words “prevalence of diabetes” link to the source: https://health.usnews.com/conditions/diabetes?int=hp_condition_guide_section_health.
2. Citations in Longer Pieces
2.1. Form of In-Text Citations
Longer pieces such as issue summaries should include numerical in-text citations corresponding to a reference list (see 2.2., below) that follows the main text.
Numerical in-text citations should be included as bracketed numbers following punctuation. When listing multiple sources supporting the same statement, put bracketed source numbers in numerical order.
Example #1: This is a statement followed by a series of supporting citations.[1][2]
Example #2: This is another statement followed by another series of supporting citations.[2][5][7]
2.2. Formatting the Reference List
The reference list should order sources according to order of use in the main text. For example, the first source cited in the main text should be designated source [1] and appear first in the reference list, the second source cited in the main text should be designated source [2] and appear second in the reference list, etc.
Reference list items should generally be structured as: [Author Name if applicable], “[Title],” [Source Publication], [Date], [link if applicable] (explanatory parenthetical if applicable).
This format should be used for most sources, including but not limited to news articles, blog posts, videos, audio clips, web pages, and reports.
Example #1: “Very Interesting Facts,” The Magazine of Interesting Facts, March 1, 2022, imaginarylinkdotcom.
Example #2: Bob Anonymous, “Very Engaging Opinions,” Serious Research Institute, last modified February 1, 2023, imaginarylinkdotcom.
Exception for books: Reference list citations to books, including but not limited to fiction books, non-fiction books, and textbooks, should be structured as: [Author Name], “[Title of Chapter or Shorter Work in Collection if applicable]” in [Book Title] ([Edition if applicable] [Publication Date]): [Page Range], [link if applicable] (explanatory parenthetical if applicable).
Example #1: Alice Anonymous, “Supporting the Important Work of Bob Anonymous” in Famous Families (2nd ed. 2021): 31-52.
Example #2: Alice Anonymous, My Own Observations on Science (2019): 1-7.
Exception for published research: Reference list citations to published research should be structured as: [Author Name], “[Title],” [Source Publication] [Vol./Issue] ([Date]): [Page Range], [link if applicable] (explanatory parenthetical if applicable).
This format should be used when citing peer-reviewed research published in a scholarly journal, in fields including but not limited to medicine and law. If citing a non-peer-reviewed preprint, this should be specified in place of [Source Publication], [Vol./Issue], and [Page Range] information.
Example: John Researcher and Jane Researcher, “Study Demonstrating Mastery of Our Field,” Website of Non-Peer Reviewed Studies [Preprint] (June 1990), imaginarylinkdotcom.
Author Names
If no author is listed in/on the cited material, omit the author name and begin the citation with the Title.
For author names, use each author’s full name as it appears in/on the cited material.
Two author names should be listed as: [Author Name 1] and [Author Name 2]
Three or more author names should be listed as: [Author Name 1], [Author Name 2], [Author Name 3], and [Author Name 4]
Titles
When capitalizing titles, maintain the capitalization used by the source.
Place punctuation within the quotation marks (“[Title],”) unless the title ends with punctuation (“[Title]?”,).
Book titles should not be italicized or placed in quotation marks.
Source Publications
Italicize the names of publications, defined here as publications with a written component. Websites corresponding to, e.g., TV or radio broadcasters count as written publications for this purpose.
If the source is a non-publication entity such as a government or an institute, do not italicize the name of the source.
When writing the name of the source, maintain the capitalization and spacing used by the source in/on the cited material. Do not include top-level domains such as .com or .org unless these generally appear attached to the name of the source in the cited material (not only in your browser’s address bar).
Dates
Publication dates should be listed as: [Month] [Day], [Year]
Write out the full name of the month.
If the source does not include a publication date but does include a last-modified date, list this date in the format above, preceded by the words “last modified.”
If the source does not include a publication date or a last-modified date, list the date on which you most recently accessed the source, in the format above, preceded by the word “accessed.”
Explanatory Parentheticals
An explanatory parenthetical can be included, only if deemed necessary.
Example #1: Author, “This Is My Article,” Any Magazine, January 1, 2000 (clarifying the basis for these claims).
Example #2: Author, “This Is Another Article,” Another Magazine, January 1, 2001 (providing necessary context).
2.3. Additional Examples
Examples of numerical in-text citations:
A 2017 report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, analyzing the prospective cost impact of MAiD for the Canadian healthcare system, and finding that MAiD could reduce yearly healthcare spending across Canada by $34.7-136.8 million,[6][7] based its projections on estimates that 1-4% of Canadians would end their lives by MAiD, and that 50% of those individuals would fall between the ages of 60 and 80.[7]
Examples of corresponding items in a reference list:
[6] Valerie Hudson, “Perspective: Poor people are dying because of Canada’s lax euthanasia laws,” Deseret News, November 25, 2022, https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/perspective-poor-people-are-dying-because-of-canadas-lax-euthanasia-laws/ar-AA14zrdK.
[7] Kelly Malone, “Medically assisted deaths could save millions in health care spending: Report,” CBC, January 23, 2017, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/medically-assisted-death-could-save-millions-1.3947481.