About Citations

If you are using someone else's words or ideas to write your paper or assignment, you MUST tell the reader where you found this information. The references you use are called citations and are normally put into a bibliography or works cited page in your paper. Citing your references allows the reader to determine where you found your information and to be able to locate the article or book in its original format.

There are several different types of citation styles, for example: MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychological Association), Chicago Style, Turabian and CSE (Council of Science Editors). Your professor will normally tell you which style to use -- if not remember to ask. The Writing Center, reference librarians, and numerous websites and books can be found to assist you with citation rules.

The format or way the citation is arranged or punctuated varies with each style. In addition, the type of material (book, ebook, journal, magazine, e-journal, web page, government publication, etc.) will dictate what information you will need to include in your citation. Some of the types of information you will might need are: