Avoiding Plagiarism: Citation Styles

Citation Styles by Discipline 
This resource offers guidance on discipline-specific citation styles.

Guides for Common Citation Styles 
This resource contains extensive citation guides for APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and AMA styles.

Entries in the list of works cited are made up of core elements given in a specific order, and there are optional elements that may be included. The core elements in your works cited list are the following, given in the order in which they should appear, followed by the correct punctuation mark. The final element in an MLA reference should end with a period:

1. Author.
2. Title of source.
3. Title of container,
4. Contributor,
5. Version,
6. Number,
7. Publisher,
8. Publication date,
9. Location.

To use this template of core elements, first evaluate what you are citing to see which elements apply to the source. Then list each element relevant to your source in the order given on the template. 

How to Cite in MLA
This resource offers a basic overview of MLA style with examples.

MLA Formatting and Style Guide
This resource, from Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL) provides guidance on various aspects of MLA style.

MLA Style
The official MLA Style website from the Modern Language Association.

Purdue OWL MLA Guide
This highly regarded MLA resource is from the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University.

The ultimate guide to citing in MLA
This site covers MLA works cited entries and in-text citations and provides multiple examples of correct MLA style.

For citations, the Chicago style offers authors the choice between two formats:

• The Notes and Bibliography system: Preferred by many working in the humanities (literature, history, the arts, etc.). Sources are cited in numbered footnotes or endnotes in the text and listed in a separate bibliography.
• The Author-Date system: Often used in the sciences and social sciences. Sources are briefly cited in the text (usually in parentheses, author's last name and year of publication), and matched up with an entry in a reference list with full bibliographic information.

Aside from the use of numbered footnotes vs. parenthetical citations in-text, the two systems share a similar style.

Chicago Citation Guide
This guide provides a detailed overview of Chicago style and includes links to additional resources.

Chicago Manual of Style Quick Guide
This brief guide to using Chicago style is hosted by the official Chicago Manual of Style website.

Chicago Style Citation Quick Guide
This site features a brief guide to creating citations in Chicago style.

Chicago Style Guide
This article covers both of the citation systems included in Chicago style.

Purdue OWL Chicago Guide
This highly regarded Chicago style resource is from the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University.

General APA in-text citations follow this pattern:

(Author, Year of publication).

To cite an online journal article in a reference entry in APA 7th edition include the following elements:

1. Author(s) of the article: Give the last name and initials (e. g. Watson, J. D.) of up to 20 authors with the last name preceded by an ampersand (&). For 21 or more authors include the first 19 names followed by an ellipsis (…) and add the last author's name.
2. Year of publication: Give the year in brackets followed by a full stop.
3. Title of the research article: Only the first letter of the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.
4. Title of periodical: Give the full, non-abbreviated title of the periodical in title case. It should also be italicized.
5. Volume number: The volume number is also italicized.
6. Issue number: For journals that are paginated by issue give the issue number in brackets.
7. Page numbers: Give the full page range.
8. DOI or URL: Include the digital object identifier (DOI) as a hyperlink starting with 'https://doi.org/'. If no DOI can be found, include the URL that directly links to the cited work.

APA Citation Guide
This guide provides a detailed overview of APA style.

APA Style
The official APA Style website from the American Psychological Association.

Purdue OWL APA Guide
This highly regarded APA resource is from the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University.

The ultimate guide to citing in APA
This guide provides detailed information on creating citations in APA style.