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Citing Sources: Home

A brief guide to the major styles: APA, Chicago, and MLA

Citations

Citing your sources is important because:

  • It shows you've done research by looking up scholarly resources
  • It allows others to look up the sources you used to find the information
  • It prevents you from being accused of plagiarism 

Citations may look different depending on what style is used, but they contain the same information. The standard elements include:

  • Author name(s)
  • Title (of book or article and journal)
  • Date of publication
  • Page numbers

Citation: A (Very) Brief Introduction

Books Available in the Lewis Library

Basic Information Needed to Cite a Book

  • Title of book
  • Author or editor name(s)
  • Publisher name and city
  • Year of publication

Basic Information Needed to Cite an Article

  • Title of article
  • Author name(s)
  • Name of journal/magazine/newspaper
  • Volume and issue number
  • Page number(s)
  • Date published
  • Information about access

Basic Information Needed to Cite a Website

  • ​​​​Author name(s) (if available)
  • Name of website
  • Name of organization affiliated with website
  • Date of creation or last update (if available)
  • Information about access

Citation Generator

Citation Management Tool

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