This LibGuide was designed to provide you with assistance in citing your sources when writing an academic paper.
There are different styles which format the information differently. In each tab, you will find descriptions of each citation style featured in this guide along with links to online resources for citing and a few examples.
What is a citation and citation style?
A citation is a way of giving credit to individuals for their creative and intellectual works that you utilized to support your research. It can also be used to locate particular sources and combat plagiarism. Typically, a citation can include the author's name, date, location of the publishing company, journal title, or DOI [Digital Object Identifer].
A citation style dictates the information necessary for a citation and how the information is ordered, as well as punctuation and other formatting.
How to do I choose a citation style?
There are many different ways of citing resources from your research. The citation style sometimes depends on the academic discipline involved. For example:
- APA [American Psychological Association] is used by Education, Psychology, and Sciences
- MLA [Modern Language Association] style is used by the Humanities
- Chicago/Turabian style is generally used by Business, History, and the Fine Arts
*You will need to consult with your professor to determine what is required in your specific course.
Click the links below to find descriptions of each style along with a sample of major in-text and bibliographic citations, links to books in PittCat, online citation manuals, and other free online resources.
MLA style is a referencing method developed by the Modern Language Association. It consists of two parts: a brief in-text citation in the body of your essay and a detailed list of the “Works Cited” at the end of the work.
The following guidelines apply to any type of source, in any format.
In-text citations
Use the first element from the Works Cited entry - usually the author’s surname - and page number/s in parenthesis, e.g. [Smith 173]. If the author’s name appears in the body of your essay itself, use just the relevant page number/s in the parenthesis, e.g. Smith claims that....applies. [173]. There is no punctuation between the author's name and the page number/s.
Works Cited
Works Cited is a list of sources from which you have borrowed information or ideas. You need to acknowledge – or cite – all your sources.
Arrange the works in alphabetical order by the first element, usually the author’s surname. The elements of each entry, including the formatting and punctuation, are as follows. Omit any element which is not relevant. Format the second and subsequent lines of each entry with a hanging indent.
NB The alphabetical arrangement is letter-by-letter, i.e. Mac comes before Mc. Ignore any diacritical marks [e.g. é is treated the same as e] or special characters [e.g. for @smith use smith].
Author. Title of source. Title of container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.
Author: Surname, Other names as per work; see specific examples for multiple authors
Title of source: as per work; see specific examples for capitalisation, formatting and punctuation
Title of container: e.g. collection of essays, journal, newspaper, television series, web site
Other contributors: e.g. editor, director, performer, illustrator, translator
Version: e.g. edition, director’s cut, metric version, unabridged
Number: e.g. volume, issue, episode
Publisher: primarily responsible for publication or distribution of work; not needed for periodicals
Publication date: the one used
Location: location in container, e.g. page number/s in anthology, disc # in set, URL/DOI, artefact in archive
Other resources:
Works Cited: A Quick Guide
by MLA Style Center