Citation Manager
Zotero is a free, easy-to-use citation manager that will help you collect, organize, cite, and share research. Using the web browser extension you can save articles, books, and websites you find to your personal Zotero library. And the best part about it is, you can share a Zotero library, making collaborating on a project or research paper easier than ever.
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Why We Cite
Citing the sources you use in your research is incredibly important for many reasons:
- It shows the person reading your work that you've done the research, lending credence to your arguments.
- It allows the reader to track down your sources if they want to learn more, or if they have questions about your work.
- It helps avoid plagiarism, assuring that other scholars are given credit for the work they did.
Citation Styles
The Modern Language Association (MLA)
The MLA style is most commonly used in the language arts and other humanities disciplines. If you need help citing in MLA style check out:
- A guide to the MLA format from Purdue Online Writing Lab a comprehensive guide that outlines formatting papers, in-text citations, works cited pages and more.
- The MLA Style Center Writing resources from the Modern Language Association including a quick guide, an interactive practice template, and advice for formatting a research paper.
MLA Handbook by ISBN: 9781603292627Publication Date: 2016-04-01
MLA Made Easy by ISBN: 9781586833435Publication Date: 2009-12-30
American Psychological Association (APA)
APA style is a commonly used citation style in behavioral and social sciences. If you want to learn how to cite in APA style check out these resources:
- Purdue Online Writing Lab's APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition) a comprehensive guide to citing using the APA style.
- Style and Grammar Guidelines [APA 7th edn.] this resource from the American Psychological Association lays out the styling conventions and citation formats for APA.
- The APA's Quick Citation Guide this quick 2 page guide covers the basics of APA style.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by ISBN: 9781433832161Publication Date: 2019-10-01This book is not available at our library but we can get a copy via InterLibrary Loan if you need it!
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by ISBN: 9781433805592Publication Date: 2009-07-15
The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS)
Chicago style citations are mostly used in History, Literature, and Arts fields. It offers two ways to cite your sources - the Author-Date System (which uses the author's last name and the year of publication in the in-text citation) or the Notes-Bibliography system (which makes use of numbered foot notes).
- Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide lays out the basics of the Notes and Bibliography style and Author-Date Style of Chicago citations. If you are looking for a fast overview this is the source for you!
- Purdue Online Writing Lab's Guide to Chicago Style offers simple explanations of Chicago style citations, with various sub-guides dedicated to different types of sources you may need to cite.
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by ISBN: 9780226494425Publication Date: 2018-04-16This book is not available at our library but we can get a copy via InterLibrary Loan if you need it!
Citation Builders
- North Carolina State University's Citation BuilderThis citation builder can help you cite sources based on the following citation manuals:
American Psychological Association 6th edition
Modern Language Association 7th edition
Modern Language Association 8th edition
Chicago Manual of Style 16th edition
Council of Science Editors - Citation MachineInput the information about your source and generate the citation in one of various formats.
When To Cite
If you can't figure out whether or not to cite a source check out these guides
If after consulting these sources you still aren't sure whether you should be citing a source, CITE IT! It's better to have one extra citation than a missing citation.