Citation Assistance

Authors cite sources used in a paper in order to give credit to the ideas they have incorporated into their own work. This is a necessary step to avoid plagiarism.


This page will provide information about the most commonly used styles as well as tools to help you answer questions. If you have any questions about what style you should be using, it's always a good idea to check with your professor.

What style should I use?

There are a range of styles available. Which style you should use is dependent upon the discipline or class for which you are writing. MLA, APA, Chicago, and Turabian are the most commonly used styles and will be covered on this page.

MLA style is from the Modern Language Association and is commonly used in the humanities. APA is from the American Psychological Association and is generally used for papers in the social sciences.  Chicago and Turabian styles are from the University of Chicago and used by history, engineering, and theology scholars.


APA Style | MLA Style | Chicago Style | Turabian Style

Other General Guides

Software for Creating Citations and Bibliographies

 

APA Style

American Psychological Association (Social Sciences)

In the Library

Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2001. Located on the shelf at BF76.7 P83 2001, Reference Room.

On the Web

Citing Electronic References in APA - Brief tutorial from the American Psychological Association website on citing electronic references.

APA Guide - From the University of Arizona.

Research and Documentation Online (Social Sciences) - From Diana Hacker.

MLA Style

Modern Language Association (Humanities)

In the Library

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003. Located on the shelf at LB2369.G53 2003, Reference Room.

On the Web

MLA Guide - From the University of Arizona

Research and Documentation Online (Humanities) - From Diana Hacker

Chicago Style

University of Chicago

In the Library

Chicago Manual of Style. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. Located on the shelf at Z253 .U69 2010, Reference Room.

On the Web

Official Chicago Manual of Style:

Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edn.

Turabian Style

University of Chicago

In the Library

Kate L. Turabian: A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. Located on the shelf at LB2369.T8 2007.

On the Web

Turabian is a textbook that clarifies Chicago style.  Engineering students at WWU are asked to use the “author/date” style, sometimes called the “reference list” style with a parenthetical citation and a reference list entry. 

Official Kate L. Turabian style guide site:

Kate L. Turabian, 7th edn.

Turabian Quick Guide (WWU engineering students use the last two--red and orange--called P and R)


Other General Guides

Additionally, you may find these websites useful during your research process.

Research and Documentation Online - Diana Hacker's Research Guide

Writer's Handbook - From the University of Wisconsin - Madison Writing Center

Software & Tools for Creating Citations and Bibliographies

Citation Machine - Citation Machine is a free website that generates the most common citation types for MLA, APA, Turabian and Chicago styles.

DocsCite - This free website from Arizona State University generates APA and MLA citations for those tricky government documents.

Zotero - If you use Firefox as your browser, you may wish to install the Zotero plugin. Zotero allows you to keep track of all of your resources in different folders including information inside library databases, the library catalog, and also websites found using Google Scholar or search directories. For a quick overview of Zotero, visit their quick start guide.

 

 

Page maintained by Sid Nash
Last update on January 4, 2012