Citation management software is an efficiency tool that allows users to create their own personal database of references, adding automatically-formatted citations to documents, as well as creating customized bibliographies in any style at the time of output. Some advantages include:
The Modern Language Association (MLA) style is commonly used for research and writing in the liberal arts and the humanities. As MLA notes, entries in the list of works cited are composed of facts common to most works—the MLA core elements. Works are cited in the text with brief parenthetical citations keyed to the list of works cited.
The MLA Handbook Eighth Edition recommends a universal set of guidelines that can be used for any source no matter the publication format. These are the nine core elements--facts common to most works- structured in a particular order by MLA:
1 Author.
2 Title of source.
3 Title of container,
4 Other contributors,
5 Version,
6 Number,
7 Publisher,
8 Publication date,
9 Location.
Depending on your source, you may not need every core element. However, they should remain in the order they are listed.
Getting a citation right is simply a matter of following style guidelines. Try the resources listed below to help you, or ask us for assistance.
Getting a citation right is simply a matter of following style guidelines. Try the resources listed below to help you in that endeavor, or ask us for assistance.
The APA style is commonly used in the sciences, because it is believed that use of an author-date system, in which the author's name is abbreviated (last name, first initial), facilitates concision and the conveyance of the latest research.
Most recent publication: The Chicago Manual of Style. 17th edition (2017)
Getting a citation right is simply a matter of following style guidelines. Try the resources listed below to help you in that endeavor, or ask us for assistance.
Chicago style is commonly used for writing in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. It offers two citation formats, the author-date system, or the notes-bibliography system, each of which offers conventions for organizing footnotes or endnotes, as well as bibliographic citations. Chicago style facilitates the denotation of scriptural, classical, archival, and other historical sources.
Most recent edition: Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertatons. 8th edition (2013) ; 9th edition projected to be published spring 2018
Getting a citation right is simply a matter of following style guidelines. Try the resources listed below to help you in that endeavor, or ask us for assistance.
Turabian style, most commonly used in the humanities and social sciences, is adapted from Chicago style and simplified for students and researchers.
Getting a citation right is simply a matter of following style guidelines. Try the resources listed below to help you in that endeavor, or ask us for assistance.
CBE/CSE style gets its name from the Council of Biology/Science Editors, and it is commonly used in the sciences. After 2000, the CBE style was renamed as CSE. Its two main formatting styles are the Citation-sequence system or the Name-year system.
Scientific Style and Format by While getting a citation right is simply a matter of following style guidelines, government publications can be a little tricky. Most style guides provide their own instructions for formatting citations to government publications, such as the MLA and APA style guides listed on the previous tabs.
A few additional resources are listed below; or ask us for assistance.
“Most of our ideas are based on sources somewhere in history,” says Wayne Booth in The Craft of Research (195). And we know it’s true because we copy and paste text all the time, and we often repeat without hesitation things we’ve heard or seen elsewhere. The 
point is that we rely on other people’s ideas and the research of others for practically everything we think or say.
Academic writing pushes this realization further by asking us to think about what we are doing before passing it on. Crucially, our arguments and explanations can be enhanced by openly engaging with their contents and sources. Of course, this involves investigating our ideas and doing research. Citing one's sources is simply a way of documenting the path of one's inquiry so others can follow along.
As a rule, you should cite everything you quote, paraphrase, or summarize, as well as someone else’s ideas or words that are not your own, such as may be copied from the Web or anywhere. Doing so accurately will help protect you from a charge of plagiarism, it will help readers evaluate the quality of your work, and it’s an opportunity for you to honor your sources and/or showcase your research (195-196).
Have questions? Need more help? Schedule a meeting with a librarian.
