Citing publications used in research papers, articles, etc. are not exercises designed to strain the patience of writers. They are locators for material used and should be as precise and succinct as good road directions. The form of the citation is not sacrosanct but is used for uniformity and is a valuable tool for communication.

This guide provides examples of the most common examples of international organization (IGO) document citations. This does not include documents of non-governmental organizations, such as the Red Cross, or those of national governments. These examples are based on the Chicago standard bibliographic style. You may need to modify the citation to conform to the manual/form you are required to use. If your publication does not fall into any of these categories, please see the Government Publications Staff for more detailed guidance.

The forms of these citations were patterned after the following:

Garner, Diane and Diane H. Smith. The Complete Guide to Citing Government Documents: A Manual for Writers & Librarians. Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, 1984.

Citing Electronic Resources using MLA Style. Prepared by the Indiana University Libraries.

Basic Citation Form

Very often these publications will not follow a standard title page arrangement and some publishing elements will be eliminated. However, use the following citation example to find as many elements as possible and arrange them as shown.

Author (Agency). Title, edition, statement. Place of publication: Publisher, Date. (Series elements). (Notes).

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The following are examples of some of the most common types of citations for IGO publications:

Issuing Agency as Author

Single issuing agency
International Monetary Fund. World Economic Outlook May 2000; Asset Prices and the Business Cycle. Washington, D.C. 2000.

Different bureaucratic levels
Each agency usually has many bureaucratic levels. Use the "parent" agency and the lowest level given as the author.

Multiple issuing agency
When a document is published by more than one agency, cite the agency which seems to dominate first and give the other agency in a note.

International Labour Office. Tradition and Dynamism among Afghan Refugees. Geneva, 1983. (Joint Publication of ILO and UN High Commissioner Refugees).

Parliamentary body
Parliamentary bodies are the regular meeting of an IGO. Each IGO may have a different names for these gatherings, such as meetings, conferences, or assemblies. In addition to place of publication and date of publication, citations should include name of the parent organization, name and number designator of the meeting or group, and date of the meeting.

U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. General Conference, 18th 1974, Paris, France. Revised recommendation concerning technical and vocational education : adopted by the General Conference at its eighteenth session, Paris, 19 November 1974 / United Nations Eductional, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Paris, 1974.

World Health Organization, 31st Assembly. "Resolution WHA31.45" May 1978. Handbook of Resolutions and Decisions of the World Health Assemby and the Executive Board vol.II 4th ed. Geneva, 1983. p.83.

Yearbooks

Statistical Yearbook, 1984. Paris: UNESCO, 1984

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United Nations Publications

Conferences
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Lyon, France, 9-12 November 1998. Compilation of Partnerships: Partners for Development, Lyon France, 9-12 November 1998. Geneva, 1998.

Mimeographed Documents
U.N. General Assembly. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Report of the Legal Subcommittee on its Thirty-ninth Session, held in Vienna from 27 March to 6 April 2000. (A/AC.105/738). 20 April 2000. (Mimeo).

Official Records


Annexes
U.N. Economic and Social Council, 42nd Session. "Agenda Item 3: Development of Natural Resources," Annexes, Official Record. New York, 1967.


Meeting Records
U.N. General Assembly, 41st Session. Second Committee. Summary Report of the 34th Meeting. 21 Nov. 1986 (A/C.2/41/SR.34). Official Record. 4 Dec. 1986.


Supplements
U.N. Security Council, 15th Year. Letter dated 7 August 1960 from the President of the Republic of Upper Volta to the Secretary General. Supp. 1960 (S/4430). Official Record. New York, 1960.

Resolutions
U.N. Security Council, 3rd year. "Resolution 42 [The Palestine Question]". 5 March, 1948, p.14. In Resolutions and Decisions of the Security Council 1948 (S/INF/2/REV.1). Official Record. New York, 1964.

U.N. Security Council, 4106th Meeting. "Resolution 1292 (2000) [On various topics]" (S/RES/1292). 29 February 2000. (Mimeo).

Treaty Series
United States of America and The Netherlands Agreement Relating to Surplus Agricultural Commodities, Signed at The Hague 7 August 1956 (No. 4069). United Nations Treaty Series 281 (1957) pp.57-63.

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European Union Publications

European Parliament Working Documents
European Union. European Parliament. The Impact of German Unification on the European Community. 1990. (Working Document No.1).

Official Journal
Citations from a pre-1967 Official Journal will resemble a periodical citation. However, in 1967 the Official Journal was split into 4 parts, Communications, Legislative, Supplement and Annex. These volumes each have a slightly different citation form.

For the Communications, Legislative and Supplement volumes, the C, L or S issue number is given before the date.

"Final Adoption of the General Budget of the European Union for the Financial Year 2000," Official Journal of the European Communities L40 (14 February 2000) pp. 1.

The Annex volume contains the debates of the European Parliament.

"Restoration of the Market Equilibrium in the Milk Sector," Official Journal of the European Communities, Annex: Debates of the European Parliament 204 (14-18 June 1976) pp. 107-108.

Treaties
Establishing Treaties:
Treaty on European Union, signed at Maastricht on 7 February 1992, Treaty on European Union. Luxembourg: Office of Official Publications, 1992.

Treaties between the European Union and other parties:

"Co-operation between the European Ecomonic Community and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan" (Sect. Gen. 1, p.1-19: 31 December 1982). In European Communities. Council. Collected Acts: Cooperation between the European Economic Community and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Secretariat of the Council of the European Communities. (Loose-leaf).

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Microform Collections

Index to International Statistics (IIS)

International Labour Orginization. Asian Employment Programme. Human Resource Planning: the Asian Experience. New Delhi: ILO, 1987. (1989 IIS mircofiche 3720-M81).

Readex Microfiche

General Assembly. Intergovernmental Committee for the Elaboration of an International Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa, Geneva, 13-24 September 1993. (A/AC.241/INF.2). 23 Septenber 1993. (1993 Readex Microfiche).

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Electronic Information

More and more information is being distributed only in machine-readable form. You must document full-text electronic resources (including World Wide Web) just as you must document print sources. The reason for documentation is to credit the author and publisher for their original work and to enable your readers to consult the same sources you did. This also helps avoid plagiarism. Refer to The Indiana University Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities and Conduct for more information on the issue of plagiarism.

When citing a full-text electronic source, a good rule of thumb is to follow the format used for print sources, then provide "access points" for your readers. Access points usually include the name of the full-text service, an indication of the type of service (CD-ROM, Online) and the URL for World Wide Web resources.

Electronic information and the products on which they are disseminated can change hourly. Please see Librarian for additional help in citing these publications.

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Basic Citation Form for CD-ROM Database Sources

A citation to data or full-text documents from such files should include, as applicable: issuing agency, title, statements of responsibility for production, medium designation; edition statement; place of publication, producer, and date.

Author. Title, edition statement [TYPE OF MEDIUM]. Place of publication: Producer, Date.

International Monetary Fund. International Financial Statistics. CD-ROM. Washington: Publication Services IMF, 2000.

United Nations Development Programme. The Human Development Report. 1990. In U.N. Development Programme. The Human Development Report CD-ROM. CD-ROM. New York: UNDP, 1999.

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Basic Citation Form for World Wide Web Sources

The basic form of a document retrieved via the WWW should include the author, title and edition, type of medium, date, availability of directories and files as needed. (Some addresses, directories, and files may lead to a search engine. However, the citation should contain enough specific information about the publication to retrieve it.) Use minimal punctuation because periods or commas may be mistaken for part of an electronic address. If you have obtained the file using a browser, you may use the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and directories and files as needed

Chicago Style

Author. Title (edition). Date of publication. Supplier. URL (accessed on DATE).

Group of 77. Final Communique Adopted by the 28th Meeting of the Chairmen/Coordinators of the Group of 77 Chapters Geneva, 8-9 June 2000. 2000. Group of 77. http://www.g77.org/News/comuniqu28.htm (accessed on Feb. 10, 2001).

International Labour Organization. ILO Constitution. International Labour Organization. http://www.ilo.org/public/english/about/iloconst.htm (accessed on Feb. 10, 2001).

MLA Style

Group of 77. Final Communique Adopted by the 28th Meeting of the Chaimen/Coordinators of the Group of 77 Chapters Geneva, 8-9 June 2000. 10 Feb. 2001 .

International Labour Organization. ILO Constitution. 10 Feb. 2001.

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Forms for Online Subscription Databases

Cite according to standard style, and then add name of the database, date of access and the URL. The first citation under each heading is based on Chicago style. The second is based on MLA style.

Access UN

U.N. General Assembly, 54th Session. Resolution Adopted By The General Assembly. 54/273. Financing Of The United Nations Mission In Bosnia and Herzegovina. http://infoweb1.newsbank.com/ (accessed on Feb. 10, 2001).

U.N. General Assembly, 54th Session. Resolution Adopted By The General Assembly. 54/273. Financing Of The United Nations Mission In Bosnia And Herzegovina. Access UN. Indiana University Library, Bloomington. 10 February 2001

Access UNDP

United Nations Development Programme. Maize and Food Legumes Improvement Programme, Zambia: Project Findings and Recommendations. [Report prepared for the government of Zambia by the Food and Agriculure Organization acting as executing agency for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)], 1993. (ZAM/86/003/R02). Terminal Report. http://infoweb1.newsbank.com/ (accessed on Feb. 24, 2001).

United Nations Development Programme. Maize and Food Legumes Improvement Programme, Zambia: Project Findings and Recommendations. [Report prepared for the government of Zambia by the Food and Agriculure Organization acting as executing agency for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)], 1993. (ZAM/86/003/R02). Terminal Report. Access UNDP. Indiana University, Bloomington. 24 February 2001

Lexis-Nexis's Academic Universe

European Commission. Commission Regulation (EC) No 2558/1999 of 2 December 1999 derogating temporarily from certain provisions on the issuing of export licences with advance fixing of the refund of the refund for agricultural products. http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/ (accessed on Feb. 10, 2001).

European Commission. Commission Regulation (EC) No 2558/1999 of 2 December 1999 derogating temporarily from certain provisions on the issuing of export licences with advance fixing of the refund of the refund for agricultural products. Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe. Indiana University, Bloomington. 10 February 2001 .

Lexis-Nexis's Statistical Universe

"Under Five Mortality Rate in Poorest and Richest Quntiles." Data from: World Bank. World Development Indicators, 2000. http://web.lexis-nexis.com/statuniv (accessed on Feb. 10, 2001).

"Under Five Mortality Rate in Poorest and Richest Quntiles," in World Bank. World Development Indicators, 2000. Lexis-Nexis Statistical Universe. Indiana University Library, Bloomington. 10 February 2001 .

UN Treaty Series

France and Federal Republic of Germany Convention for the avoidance of double taxation and the establishment of principles for reciprocal administrative and legal assistance with respect to taxes on income and fortune, business taxes and land taxes (with additional protocol).Signed at Paris on 21 July 1959 (No.10999). http://untreaty.un.org/English/access.asp (accessed Feb. 10, 2001).

France and Federal Republic of Germany Convention for the avoidance of double taxation and the establishment of principles for reciprocal administrative and legal assistance with respect to taxes on income and fortune, business taxes and land taxes (with additional protocol).Signed at Paris on 21 July 1959 (No.10999). United Nations Treaty Series. Indiana University Library, Bloomington. 10 February 2001

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Links

For other source information, please try these sites:


DocsCite Arizona State University Library Citation Creator.

Citing Electronic Sources Library of Congress.

How to Cite Electronic Sources. Links to official guides of MLA and APA as well as guides developed by the IUB Libraries.

Introduction to Basic Legal Citation by Peter W. Martin (Cornell Law School).

List of Citation Guides for Electronic Documents. International Federation of Library Association.

United Nations Documentation: Research Guide Information about UN documents.

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Bibliography

The Chicago Manual of Style: for Authors, Editors, and Copywriters. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. [Z253.U69 2003 ET2 Reference Desk, Main Reference, Information Commons Reference]

Garner, Diane L. and Diane H. Smith. The Complete Guide to Citing Government Information Resources: a Manual for Writers and Librarians. Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, 1993. [Z7164.G7 G37 1993 Government Publications Reserve]

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association, 2003. [LB2369.G53 2003]

Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 6th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. [LB2369.T8 1996 Government Publications Reserve or Research Collections Reference]

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