How to cite KRIMINIS in your dissertation
Ready-to-copy references in APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, ISO 690 and BibTeX; what to cite from KRIMINIS and what to cite from the original works; and how to get it into Zotero in two clicks.
Before you cite: what KRIMINIS is, and what it is not
KRIMINIS is a popular science archive with sources: every theory and every case file is written by one author, Antonio Javier Castillo Martín, and ends with its bibliography. It is not a peer-reviewed journal. That decides how to use it in academic work.
Cite KRIMINIS for what is its own: the analysis of a villain, an example from fiction, a comparison between two theories. Cite the original work for what a theory says: if you write that Merton distinguished five modes of adaptation, the reference is Merton (1938), not this site. Each page lists those works under «Sources · further reading»; your supervisor will value the primary sources.
The «Cite this page» box
At the end of every theory and every case file there is a «Cite this page» box. Open it and you get the reference in APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, ISO 690 and BibTeX, each with a copy button, and a RIS file for Zotero, Mendeley or EndNote. This is the real box of the page on Anomie / Strain:
Cite this page
Citations in the text
In APA 7 the in-text citation is the surname and the year: (Castillo Martín, 2026), or Castillo Martín (2026) if the name is part of the sentence. If you cite several KRIMINIS pages from the same year, APA tells them apart with a letter: 2026a, 2026b, in the order they appear in your reference list.
Zotero, Mendeley and EndNote
Two ways. The quick one: the Zotero Connector reads the page’s citation metadata (author, title, date and site), so one click on the browser button saves it correctly. The other: download the RIS file from the «Cite this page» box and import it into your reference manager.
Which date to use
KRIMINIS pages are revised and updated. The reference uses the date of the last update, and MLA, Chicago and ISO 690 also include the date you accessed it, as they require. APA 7 only asks for an access date when the content is designed to change; if your university’s guidelines ask for one, add “Retrieved [date], from”. When in doubt, your faculty’s style guide wins over any generator, this one included.
Frequently asked questions
Can I cite KRIMINIS in my dissertation?
Yes, for its own analysis and examples: the reading of a villain through a theory, or a comparison between theories. For what a theory claims, cite the original work, which each page lists under its sources.
Who is the author of KRIMINIS?
Antonio Javier Castillo Martín writes and signs the archive. In APA, the author is “Castillo Martín, A. J.”; in MLA and Chicago, “Castillo Martín, Antonio Javier”.
Does KRIMINIS have a DOI?
Not at the moment: cite the URL of the specific page you used, with its date.
Do I cite the case file or the theory?
The page you actually used. If you rely on the analysis of a villain, cite the case file; if you rely on the explanation of a theory, cite the theory page, and the original work for its claims.