Citation Help

Whenever you quote or base your ideas on another person's work, you must document the source you used. Even when you do not quote directly from another work, if reading or viewing that source contributed to the ideas presented in your paper, you must give the author(s) proper credit. So, whether you are quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing someone else's ideas you must cite your source.

Citations allow readers to:

• locate and further explore the sources you consulted
• show the depth and scope of your research
• give credit to authors for their ideas

Citations provide:

• evidence for your arguments
• add credibility to your work by demonstrating that you have sought out and considered a variety of sources

In academic work, citing sources is standard practice and shows that you are responding to this person, agreeing with that person, and adding something of your own. Think of documenting your sources as providing a trail for your reader to follow to see the research you performed and discover what led you to your original contribution.

The three most popular citation styles used in academic papers and research are:

• APA - American Psychological Association
• MLA - Modern Language Association
• CMS - Chicago Manual of Style

In addition to those citation styles, the Council of Science Editors has a citation style used by researchers in plant sciences, zoology, microbiology, medicine etc.

Your professor will specify which style you are required to use. The library has created citation guides to help you cite your sources properly. The tabs to the left will lead you to the style guides.

The Purdue OWL provides in-depth style guides as well:

• APA
• MLA
• CMS

The Council of Science Editors also provides an online style guide with examples of citations and paper format.

Last but not least, you can use a citation generator, such as the OWL Citation Maker, to create and save citations in MLA, APA or Chicago format for your Working Bibliography and Works Cited list.