Citing Meditation: A Guide

Knowing how to cite a meditation text correctly is essential to avoid plagiarism and give proper credit to the author. The citation style you use will depend on the style guide required by your institution or publisher, with popular styles including MLA, APA, Chicago, and Harvard. For example, if you were citing The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius in APA style, it would look like this: Aurelius, M. (2002). The Meditations. Random House.. On the other hand, in MLA style, it would appear as Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations. Random House, 2002.. These small differences between styles are important to keep in mind to ensure accurate citations.

Citing 'The Meditations' by Marcus Aurelius in MLA style

Citing The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius in MLA style

The Meditations, written by Marcus Aurelius, is a popular text that is frequently cited in academic writing. Here is a comprehensive guide on how to cite this work using the Modern Language Association (MLA) style, specifically following the guidelines of the MLA Handbook, 9th edition.

Full Citation/Reference:

The basic structure of an MLA citation for a book includes the author's last name, a comma, their first name, a period, the book title in italics, a period, the publisher, a comma, and the year of publication. Here is how you can apply this to cite The Meditations:

Aurelius, Marcus. *Meditations*. Random House, 2002.

In-Text Citations:

When creating in-text citations, include the author's last name and the page number in parentheses. If you are directly quoting a specific part of the text, include the page number within the parentheses, like this: (Aurelius 25). If you are paraphrasing or referring to the work generally, you may choose to omit the page number.

Multiple Editions:

If you are citing a specific edition of The Meditations, be sure to include that information in your citation. For example, if you are citing the 3rd edition:

Aurelius, Marcus. *Meditations*, 3rd ed., Random House, 2002.

Online or Digital Versions:

With the increasing availability of digital texts, you may be citing an online or e-book version of The Meditations. In such cases, the MLA style recommends including a URL or DOI (Digital Object Identifier) to provide a direct link to the source. Here's how you can adapt the citation:

Aurelius, Marcus. *Meditations*. Random House, 2002. https://exampleurl.com/meditations.

Or

Aurelius, Marcus. *Meditations*. Random House, 2002. doi:10.12345/meditations.

Note that the "https://" part of the URL is typically omitted in MLA style.

Works Cited List:

Your Works Cited list should be placed at the end of your document, and it should include all the sources you have directly quoted or paraphrased in your work. The list should be formatted with hanging indents and alphabetized by the authors' last names. For The Meditations, your Works Cited entry would look like this:

Aurelius, Marcus. *Meditations*. Random House, 2002.

Citing 'The Meditations' in APA style

To cite 'The Meditations' by Marcus Aurelius in APA style, the following format should be used:

Aurelius, M. (2002). The Meditations. Random House.

This is the correct format according to the APA Publication Manual (7th edition). The citation begins with the author's last name, followed by their initials. The year of publication is then listed in parentheses, followed by the title of the book in sentence case, and finally, the publisher.

Aurelius, M. (2014). Meditations (M. Hammond, Trans.). Penguin Classics.

This citation follows the same format as the previous example, but with the details of the 2014 edition.

The APA style is an editorial style developed by the American Psychological Association. It is commonly used by students and scholars in the social sciences and health fields, such as psychology, nursing, social work, and sociology. APA style provides specific rules for how to organise and include information in citations.

Citing 'The Meditations' in Chicago style

When citing The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius in Chicago style, there are two formats you can use: Chicago (notes-bibliography) and Chicago (author-date).

Chicago (notes-bibliography)

The citation in your reference list or bibliography should look like this:

> 1. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (New York: Random House, 2002).

> 2. Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations. New York: Random House, 2002.

Chicago (author-date)

The citation in your reference list or bibliography should look like this:

> 1. Aurelius, Marcus. 2002. Meditations. New York: Random House.

> 2. Aurelius, M. (2002) Meditations. New York: Random House.

In-text citations

In Chicago style, in-text citations are usually in the form of footnotes or endnotes. For The Meditations, a footnote or endnote citation would look like this:

> Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (New York: Random House, 2002), 1.

Alternatively, you can use the author-date system, where the citation appears in parentheses within the text:

> (Aurelius 2002, 1)

Citing 'Meditations on First Philosophy' by Rene Descartes in MLA style

To cite 'Meditations on First Philosophy' by Rene Descartes in MLA style, you can follow the format below. This citation style is based on the MLA handbook, 9th edition.

For in-text citations, you would include the author's last name and the page number in parentheses, like this: (Descartes, 10). If you're directly quoting, also include the relevant page number(s).

For the full citation on your Works Cited page, use the following format:

Descartes, René. Meditations on First Philosophy [with Selections from the Objections and Replies]. Translated by Michael Moriarty, Oxford University Press, 2008.

This citation format includes the following information:

• Author's full last name, followed by a comma, and then their first name
• Title of the book in italics
• Any additional information in brackets (if applicable)
• Translator's name followed by the abbreviation "Trans." (if applicable)
• Publishing company
• Publication year

Make sure to indent the second and subsequent lines of the citation. Here is what the full citation would look like in paragraph form:

Descartes, René. Meditations on First Philosophy [with Selections from the Objections and Replies]. Translated by Michael Moriarty, Oxford University Press, 2008.

Note that if you're citing a different edition or translation, be sure to update the relevant information in the citation. Additionally, always refer to the latest edition of the MLA handbook for the most up-to-date guidelines and format specifications.

Citing 'Meditations on First Philosophy' in APA style

To cite 'Meditations on First Philosophy' by Rene Descartes in APA style, you can follow this format:

Descartes, R. (2008). Meditations on first philosophy (M. Moriarty, Trans.). Oxford University Press.

This citation includes the author's last name, followed by their initials, the year of publication, the title of the work in sentence case, the translator's initials and last name, the abbreviation for "translated by", and finally, the publisher.

Descartes, R. (1993). Discourse on method; and, Meditations on first philosophy. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co.

Note that in this example, the title of the work is in sentence case, and the publisher's name includes a colon after the city name.

When citing a specific edition or translation, it is important to include the relevant details, such as the translator's name and the publication year, to ensure your citation is accurate and complies with the APA style guidelines.

Now, let's break down the components of an APA citation:

• Author: Start with the author's last name, followed by a comma, and then their initials. In the case of Descartes, his name would appear as "Descartes, R."
• Publication Year: Place the year of publication in parentheses after the author's name. For example, "(2008)" or "(1993)."
• Title: Write the title of the work in sentence case, with only the first word and proper nouns capitalised. For example, "Meditations on first philosophy."
• Translator: If you are citing a translated work, include the translator's initials followed by their last name, followed by "Trans." in parentheses. For example, "(M. Moriarty, Trans.)."
• Publisher: Finally, list the publisher of the work. For example, "Oxford University Press."

By following these guidelines, you can accurately cite 'Meditations on First Philosophy' in APA style, ensuring that you give proper credit to the author and providing your readers with the correct information to locate the source.

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