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Citing Sources

Information on using citation styles for correct formatting and use of citations.

What are Citation Styles?

You must cite the sources you use in your academic work.  Sources are cited both within your text and at the end of the paper, in a list called a bibliography, works cited, or references page.   MLA, Chicago, and APA styles are frequently used in university-level academic work.  Each of these styles is explained in a manual, with instructions for formatting citations to different kinds of sources.
 

Which Style to Use?
  1. Use the citation style recommended by your course instructor.
  2. MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most often used by the humanities, including literature.
  3. APA (American Psychological Association) style is used in education, psychology, and other social sciences.
  4. Chicago or Turabian style is generally used by history and art history.
  5. There are other styles for specialized fields, more often used when submitting papers to journals to be considered for publication.