Citation Guidelines

This page explains how to cite texts on ACCOT in essays and academic articles, and how to use the citation boxes at the bottom of texts on ACCOT. For general advice on citing texts in contemporary Coptic studies, see the Style Guide.

ACCOT is designed to make it easy for English-speaking students and researchers of contemporary Coptic theology to read and cite primary sources as though they were working with the original Arabic texts. This means that in most cases, when you cite a translation on ACCOT, the citation will fit into your bibliography as though you were citing the original Arabic text itself, with only a small addition at the end of the citation to indicate that you accessed it through ACCOT.

To make this easier, every item on ACCOT includes a citation box at the bottom like the following (to jump to it on a long page, click the “Cite this text” link under the author’s photo):

How to cite this text (Chicago/Turabian):

al-Khuli, Henry. “Why Have We Published This Magazine?” [Limādhā āṣdarnā hadhā al-majalla?] in Sunday School Magazine 1, no. 1 (April 1947): 1–2. Translated by Mervat Hanna. In Archive of Contemporary Coptic Orthodox Theology. Sydney, NSW: St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College. https://accot.stcyrils.edu.au/why-have-we-published-this-magazine-dr-henry-al-khuli-1947/.

(For more information, see Citation Guidelines)

This citation box shows you what a reference to the text would look like in the bibliography of a paper using the Chicago/Turabian Notes and Bibliography Style, which is standard in history, theology and philosophy. In this style, you make citations in the body of your paper using Footnotes and then include a Bibliography at the end, which includes all the works cited in the paper in alphabetical order. Footnotes and Bibliography entries are formatted slightly differently. There is also a Shortened Footnote form used when you have already cited a text in a full footnote earlier in the paper.

Below are examples of citations of the four most common kinds of translations on ACCOT: articles, books/book sections, recorded sermons and and letters.

1. Articles

Here is an example based on the article “Jesus the Saviour” by Bishop Bimen:

Full Footnote: Bishop Bimen of Mallawi, “Jesus the Saviour,” al-Kiraza 11, no. 3 (Jan 1980): 4; (trans.) Andrew Youssef, in Archive of Contemporary Coptic Orthodox Theology (Sydney, NSW: St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College), https://accot.stcyrils.edu.au/bbim-sav1980/.

Shortened Footnote: Bishop Bimen, “Jesus the Saviour,” 4. Bibliography: Bimen, Bishop of Mallawi. “Jesus the Saviour.” [Yasū‘ al-mukhalliṣ] in al-Kiraza 11, no. 3 (Jan 1980): 4. Translated by Andrew Youssef. In Archive of Contemporary Coptic Orthodox Theology. Sydney, NSW: St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College. https://accot.stcyrils.edu.au/bbim-sav1980/.

2. Books or Book Sections

Translated books or book sections are slightly (but not much) more complicated, because books (unlike journal articles) have their own publishers and places of publication. Here’s another example based on Life and Hope by Bishop Samuel:

Full Footnote:
Bishop Samuel of Social Services, Life and Hope (Shubra: Jabalawi Press, 1964), 8; (trans. Ramza Bassilious and Samuel Kaldas) in Archive of Contemporary Coptic Orthodox Theology (Sydney, NSW: St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College), https://accot.stcyrils.edu.au/bsam-lifeandhope/.

Shortened Footnote:
Bishop Samuel, Life and Hope, 8.

Bibliography:
Samuel, Bishop of Social Services. Life and Hope [Al-ḥayā wa-l-rajā’]. Shubra: Jabalawi Press, 1964. Translated by Ramza Bassilious and Samuel Kaldas. In Archive of Contemporary Coptic Orthodox Theology. Sydney, NSW: St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College. https://accot.stcyrils.edu.au/bsam-lifeandhope/.

3. Sermons and Lectures

Translations of audio sermons are treated for the purposes of citation as recorded speeches, as outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style. Obviously, recordings lack page numbers, but the time stamp on the video or audio file can be indicated in footnotes if you wish to point to a particular part of the sermon. We hope to update the translations of frequently cited sermons with timestamps in the text to make this easier in future; in the meantime though, can either locate the timestamp in the Arabic recording yourself, or simply cite the text as a whole (even when you are citing a particular part). Here is an example based on sermon by Fr Luka Sidarous, “The Motherhood of the Theotokos.” Note the inclusion of a timestamp in the footnotes:

Full Footnote:
Fr Luka Sidarous, “The Motherhood of the Theotokos,” Sermon, St Mercurius and St Abraam’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Torrance CA, August 21, 2019, 23:19; (trans.) Mariam Guirguis, in Archive of Contemporary Coptic Orthodox Theology (Sydney, NSW: St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College), https://accot.stcyrils.edu.au/ls-theotokos/.

Shortened Footnote:
Fr Luka Sidarous, “The Motherhood of the Theotokos,” 23:19.

Bibliography:

Sidarous, Luke (Hegumen). “The Motherhood of the Theotokos.” Sermon, St Mercurius and St Abraam’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Torrance CA, August 21, 2019. Translated by Mariam Guirguis. In Archive of Contemporary Coptic Orthodox Theology. Sydney, NSW: St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College. https://accot.stcyrils.edu.au/ls-theotokos/.

4. Letters

Citations of translated letters follow the Chicago conventions for letters of various kinds (e.g. manuscripts, letters in an edited collection), followed by the translator’s name an an ACCOT attribution. Here is an example based on Pope Shenouda’s letter of condolence to Bishop Athanasius on the death of Bishop Samuel:

Full Footnote:
Pope Shenouda III to Bishop Athanasius, October 15 1981; (trans. Samuel Kaldas) in Archive of Contemporary Coptic Orthodox Theology (Sydney, NSW: St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College), https://accot.stcyrils.edu.au/ps3-sam1981/.

Shortened Footnote:
Pope Shenouda III to Bishop Athanasius, October 15 1981.

Bibliography:
Shenouda III (Pope). Pope Shenouda III to Bishop Athanasius, October 15, 1981. Translated by Samuel Kaldas. In Archive of Contemporary Coptic Orthodox Theology, Sydney, NSW: St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College. https://accot.stcyrils.edu.au/ps3-sam1981/.

5. General Tips

Finally, some general principles to keep in mind when citing ACCOT texts and translations:

For issues relating to how to order a bibliography, whether to translate a text’s title or transliterate it (or both), and other issues, see Academic Conventions for Coptic Studies.
The example citations in citation boxes give both the English translated title and the transliterated Arabic title. In many cases, it unnecessary to give both in your citations (especially in footnotes). We provide both simply for convenience.
Not all texts on ACCOT require an ACCOT attribution in the citation. In particular, PDFs of complete works or articles which are hosted on ACCOT can be cited without any mention of ACCOT, as indicated in the citation boxes for those texts (e.g. Bishop Athanasius’ Doctrines of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Bishop Mettaous’ Spirituality of the Rites of the Liturgy, articles from the Coptic Church Review). This is because ACCOT had no hand in the production of the translations in question, and hosts them (after seeking permission) simply for the purposes of gathering together works of contemporary Coptic thought in a single database. If you wish to acknowledge ACCOT’s role in providing any of these texts, or provide a link for readers to access themselves, consider adding the following text to the end of a citation:
- Accessed via Archive of Contemporary Coptic Orthodox Theology (Sydney, NSW: St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College), URL.
- (Or more concisely:) Accessed via ACCOT, URL.