Citation

Purpose of Citation

• gives credit to the words and ideas of others in your writing
• allows readers to find your sources if they are interested in learning more
• allows you to find a source if you are interested in learning more

Citation Styles

There are many styles of citation.  A few of the most common include:

• MLA (Modern Languages Association)
• APA (American Psychological Association)
• AMA (American Medical Association)
• Chicago
• CSE (Council of Science Editors)
• AP (Associated Press)

The style that you use is determined generally by what discipline you are writing for, or by what your professor requires.

Similarities and differences

• No matter which style you use, the purpose for doing it stays the same.  Any time you use the ideas or words of another author, speaker, or person, you need to indicate where it came from.  Not doing so is considered plagiarism, and can result in serious consequences.
• Each style is made up of the same basic parts and pieces, those parts and pieces are just put in different orders and styled a little differently. 
  • Example:  You will likely always use the author's name
    • MLA Work Cited page:  you would use the last name, first name(s):  Smith, Hannah Klein. 
    • APA References page:  you would only use the last name, and initials:  Smith, H. K.
• You do not need to memorize how to cite information!  The important thing is recognizing that you need to cite it, and knowing how to look up the proper format.  Once you find a guide or template, just make sure to plug in the pieces in the correct order, with the correct capitalization and punctuation.

See the other pages of this guide for more details about specific citation styles.

This video explains how to use the cite tool in all EBSCO databases.