how to use citation in research

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• Citing Sources

Citations provide information to help your audience locate the sources you consulted when writing a paper or preparing a presentation. Some of your instructors will specify which citation format you should use; others will tell you to choose your own citation format as long as you use it consistently. The most common citation formats are MLA (Modern Language Association) style, which is primarily used for papers in the humanities; APA (American Psychological Association) style, which is primarily used for papers in the social sciences; and Chicago style (The Chicago Manual of Style), which is used for both humanities and social science papers.

Some of your courses at Harvard will require you to use other citation formats. Some science courses may require you to use the citation style of the American Medical Association (AMA). AMA style is considered a standard citation format for academic writing in the sciences and is used in many textbooks and medical journals. The AMA Manual of Style is available online . The American Chemical Society publishes its own style guide , which you may be asked to use in chemistry courses. The Harvard Department of Economics provides students with a departmental style guide, which you can find  here . If you are not sure which format to use for a specific course, consult your instructor.

Both APA and MLA styles require you to credit your sources in two ways. First, you must include a parenthetical citation in the text of your paper that indicates the source of a particular quotation, paraphrased statement or idea, or fact; second, you must include a list of references at the end of your paper that enables readers to locate the sources you have used. You can read more about MLA style here and APA style here .

Chicago style also requires you to credit your sources both in the text and at the end of your paper. Chicago offers guidance on two types of in-text citations–notes or parenthetical citations. You can read more about Chicago style here .

If you have questions about which citation style to use, you should always check with your instructor.

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / How to Cite Sources

How to Cite Sources

Here is a complete list for how to cite sources. Most of these guides present citation guidance and examples in MLA, APA, and Chicago.

If you’re looking for general information on MLA or APA citations , the EasyBib Writing Center was designed for you! It has articles on what’s needed in an MLA in-text citation , how to format an APA paper, what an MLA annotated bibliography is, making an MLA works cited page, and much more!

MLA Format Citation Examples

The Modern Language Association created the MLA Style, currently in its 9th edition, to provide researchers with guidelines for writing and documenting scholarly borrowings.  Most often used in the humanities, MLA style (or MLA format ) has been adopted and used by numerous other disciplines, in multiple parts of the world.

MLA provides standard rules to follow so that most research papers are formatted in a similar manner. This makes it easier for readers to comprehend the information. The MLA in-text citation guidelines, MLA works cited standards, and MLA annotated bibliography instructions provide scholars with the information they need to properly cite sources in their research papers, articles, and assignments.

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APA Format Citation Examples

The American Psychological Association created the APA citation style in 1929 as a way to help psychologists, anthropologists, and even business managers establish one common way to cite sources and present content.

APA is used when citing sources for academic articles such as journals, and is intended to help readers better comprehend content, and to avoid language bias wherever possible. The APA style (or APA format ) is now in its 7th edition, and provides citation style guides for virtually any type of resource.

Chicago Style Citation Examples

The Chicago/Turabian style of citing sources is generally used when citing sources for humanities papers, and is best known for its requirement that writers place bibliographic citations at the bottom of a page (in Chicago-format footnotes ) or at the end of a paper (endnotes).

The Turabian and Chicago citation styles are almost identical, but the Turabian style is geared towards student published papers such as theses and dissertations, while the Chicago style provides guidelines for all types of publications. This is why you’ll commonly see Chicago style and Turabian style presented together. The Chicago Manual of Style is currently in its 17th edition, and Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations is in its 8th edition.

Citing Specific Sources or Events

• Declaration of Independence
• Gettysburg Address
• Martin Luther King Jr. Speech
• President Obama’s Farewell Address
• President Trump’s Inauguration Speech
• White House Press Briefing

Additional FAQs

• Citing Archived Contributors
• Citing a Blog
• Citing a Book Chapter
• Citing a Source in a Foreign Language
• Citing an Image
• Citing a Song
• Citing Special Contributors
• Citing a Translated Article
• Citing a Tweet

6 Interesting Citation Facts

The world of citations may seem cut and dry, but there’s more to them than just specific capitalization rules, MLA in-text citations , and other formatting specifications. Citations have been helping researches document their sources for hundreds of years, and are a great way to learn more about a particular subject area.

Ever wonder what sets all the different styles apart, or how they came to be in the first place? Read on for some interesting facts about citations!

1. There are Over 7,000 Different Citation Styles

You may be familiar with MLA and APA citation styles, but there are actually thousands of citation styles used for all different academic disciplines all across the world. Deciding which one to use can be difficult, so be sure to ask you instructor which one you should be using for your next paper.

2. Some Citation Styles are Named After People

While a majority of citation styles are named for the specific organizations that publish them (i.e. APA is published by the American Psychological Association, and MLA format is named for the Modern Language Association), some are actually named after individuals. The most well-known example of this is perhaps Turabian style, named for Kate L. Turabian, an American educator and writer. She developed this style as a condensed version of the Chicago Manual of Style in order to present a more concise set of rules to students.

3. There are Some Really Specific and Uniquely Named Citation Styles

How specific can citation styles get? The answer is very. For example, the “Flavour and Fragrance Journal” style is based on a bimonthly, peer-reviewed scientific journal published since 1985 by John Wiley & Sons. It publishes original research articles, reviews and special reports on all aspects of flavor and fragrance. Another example is “Nordic Pulp and Paper Research,” a style used by an international scientific magazine covering science and technology for the areas of wood or bio-mass constituents.

4. More citations were created on  EasyBib.com  in the first quarter of 2018 than there are people in California.

The US Census Bureau estimates that approximately 39.5 million people live in the state of California. Meanwhile, about 43 million citations were made on EasyBib from January to March of 2018. That’s a lot of citations.

5. “Citations” is a Word With a Long History

The word “citations” can be traced back literally thousands of years to the Latin word “citare” meaning “to summon, urge, call; put in sudden motion, call forward; rouse, excite.” The word then took on its more modern meaning and relevance to writing papers in the 1600s, where it became known as the “act of citing or quoting a passage from a book, etc.”

6. Citation Styles are Always Changing

The concept of citations always stays the same. It is a means of preventing plagiarism and demonstrating where you relied on outside sources. The specific style rules, however, can and do change regularly. For example, in 2018 alone, 46 new citation styles were introduced , and 106 updates were made to exiting styles. At EasyBib, we are always on the lookout for ways to improve our styles and opportunities to add new ones to our list.

Why Citations Matter

Here are the ways accurate citations can help your students achieve academic success, and how you can answer the dreaded question, “why should I cite my sources?”

They Give Credit to the Right People

Citing their sources makes sure that the reader can differentiate the student’s original thoughts from those of other researchers. Not only does this make sure that the sources they use receive proper credit for their work, it ensures that the student receives deserved recognition for their unique contributions to the topic. Whether the student is citing in MLA format , APA format , or any other style, citations serve as a natural way to place a student’s work in the broader context of the subject area, and serve as an easy way to gauge their commitment to the project.

They Provide Hard Evidence of Ideas

Having many citations from a wide variety of sources related to their idea means that the student is working on a well-researched and respected subject. Citing sources that back up their claim creates room for fact-checking and further research . And, if they can cite a few sources that have the converse opinion or idea, and then demonstrate to the reader why they believe that that viewpoint is wrong by again citing credible sources, the student is well on their way to winning over the reader and cementing their point of view.

They Promote Originality and Prevent Plagiarism

The point of research projects is not to regurgitate information that can already be found elsewhere. We have Google for that! What the student’s project should aim to do is promote an original idea or a spin on an existing idea, and use reliable sources to promote that idea. Copying or directly referencing a source without proper citation can lead to not only a poor grade, but accusations of academic dishonesty. By citing their sources regularly and accurately, students can easily avoid the trap of plagiarism , and promote further research on their topic.

They Create Better Researchers

By researching sources to back up and promote their ideas, students are becoming better researchers without even knowing it! Each time a new source is read or researched, the student is becoming more engaged with the project and is developing a deeper understanding of the subject area. Proper citations demonstrate a breadth of the student’s reading and dedication to the project itself. By creating citations, students are compelled to make connections between their sources and discern research patterns. Each time they complete this process, they are helping themselves become better researchers and writers overall.

When is the Right Time to Start Making Citations?

Make in-text/parenthetical citations as you need them.

As you are writing your paper, be sure to include references within the text that correspond with references in a works cited or bibliography. These are usually called in-text citations or parenthetical citations in MLA and APA formats. The most effective time to complete these is directly after you have made your reference to another source. For instance, after writing the line from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities : “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…,” you would include a citation like this (depending on your chosen citation style):

(Dickens 11).

This signals to the reader that you have referenced an outside source. What’s great about this system is that the in-text citations serve as a natural list for all of the citations you have made in your paper, which will make completing the works cited page a whole lot easier. After you are done writing, all that will be left for you to do is scan your paper for these references, and then build a works cited page that includes a citation for each one.

Need help creating an MLA works cited page ? Try the MLA format generator on EasyBib.com! We also have a guide on how to format an APA reference page .

2. Understand the General Formatting Rules of Your Citation Style Before You Start Writing

While reading up on paper formatting may not sound exciting, being aware of how your paper should look early on in the paper writing process is super important. Citation styles can dictate more than just the appearance of the citations themselves, but rather can impact the layout of your paper as a whole, with specific guidelines concerning margin width, title treatment, and even font size and spacing. Knowing how to organize your paper before you start writing will ensure that you do not receive a low grade for something as trivial as forgetting a hanging indent.

Don’t know where to start? Here’s a formatting guide on APA format .

3. Double-check All of Your Outside Sources for Relevance and Trustworthiness First

Collecting outside sources that support your research and specific topic is a critical step in writing an effective paper. But before you run to the library and grab the first 20 books you can lay your hands on, keep in mind that selecting a source to include in your paper should not be taken lightly. Before you proceed with using it to backup your ideas, run a quick Internet search for it and see if other scholars in your field have written about it as well. Check to see if there are book reviews about it or peer accolades. If you spot something that seems off to you, you may want to consider leaving it out of your work. Doing this before your start making citations can save you a ton of time in the long run.

Finished with your paper? It may be time to run it through a grammar and plagiarism checker , like the one offered by EasyBib Plus. If you’re just looking to brush up on the basics, our grammar guides  are ready anytime you are.

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Citation Styles

What is a Citation?

A citation is positioned within the body of your paper, right after you finish referencing or quoting another author's work. This is known as an inline or in-text citation. At the end of your paper, you will also provide a complete reference. A reference must provide enough information to both identify and locate the original source of the information.

A reference usually includes:

• Name(s) of author(s)
• Title of source (article or chapter title and journal or book title)
• Publication date (if known)
• Page number(s)
• Volume and edition/issue numbers (for books and articles)
• If the content is likely to change over time, include the date you originally accessed the content.

Citation Resources

Style Guide Resources

Check out the U-M Library's comprehensive  Citation Help Research Guide  for examples and formatting tips for APA Style, MLA Style, IEEE Style, and well as other Science Styles. You'll also find guidance on citing government documents, data and statistics, and using bibliography tools. Learn how to manage your citations and get help with the  Manage Citations with Zotero, Mendeley, Endnote Research Guide .  

Many students also rely on PurdueOWL for their various style guides, but be aware that the website has many ads, whereas our Citation Help Research Guide is ad-free.

Related Sources

• Do you have a literature review assignment? Check out this guide for an in depth look at writing an advanced literature review.
•   Beyond Plagiarism  is made up a series of lessons that focus on strategies for finding, citing, analyzing, and quoting source material responsibly.

Tools for Formatting Citations

Having trouble formatting your citations? Use these tools to automatically generate citations for books, journal articles, newspapers and more in APA, MLA, and Chicago styles.

• EasyBib EasyBib is an automatic bibliography and citation generator for MLA citations.
• University of North Carolina Citation Builder This citation generator will format citations in MLA, APA, Chicago, or CSE citation styles.
• ZoteroBib Helps you build a bibliography instantly from any computer or device, without creating an account or installing any software.

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When you're ready to write, check out  Sweetland Writing Center's Resources  page for undergraduate students. Here you'll find Writing Support , Writing Guides , and more. 

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APA Style Guidelines

About this guide.

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This guide to APA citation follows the 7 th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association . It begins with principles, tips, and explanations to help you better understand the rules of correct attribution and citation. Then we provide examples of how to cite a variety of sources both in text and on the References page. 

Wherever necessary, we offer multiple examples depending on where a source is accessed and what information is available. For example, under newspapers, we show you how to cite whether you read the article in print, on the web, or inside of a library database, and what to do if there isn’t an author.

In addition, this guide provides examples for two types of in-text citation parentheticals: with attributive tags or end-of-sentence. The order is always attributive tags first and end-of-sentence second. Following each set is an example of the References entry, which corresponds to both types of in-text citations.

Pro Tip : Starting the References page immediately and maintaining it as you include sources in your drafts will save time and frustration later in the revising/final draft polishing process.

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Citation Styles

• Citation Basics

What is a Citation?

A citation is the basic information required to identify and locate a specific source, e.g. book, book chapter, article, website, video, etc.

What is a Citation Style?

Different academic disciplines have specific guidelines for organizing material and citing sources. These rules are published as style manuals . While each citation system is distinct, the underlying rationale is the same–to facilitate written communication among members in a scholarly community.

Parts of a Citation *

• Book: Author Name . Title . Publisher, Year. 

Example: Macfarlane, Bruce. Researching with Integrity: The Ethics of Academic Enquiry . Routledge, 2009. 

• Book Chapter: Author Name. “Chapter Title.” Book Title. Editor, Publisher, Year, Chapter Page Numbers.

Example: Tan, Amy. “Yes and No.” The Genius of Language: Fifteen Writers Reflect on Their Mother Tongues, edited by Wendy Lesser, Pantheon Books, 2004, pp. 25-34.

• Journal Article: Author Name . “Article Title.” Journal Title, Volume Number, Issue Number , Year, Article Page Numbers.

Example: Hess, Mickey. “Was Foucault A Plagiarist? Hip-Hop Sampling And Academic Citation.” Computers & Composition, vol. 23, no. 3, 2006, pp. 280-295.

• Website: Author Name. “Title of Page/Work.” Title of Website, Date of Publication, Location.

Example: Calonia, Jennifer. “How to Avoid Plagiarism.” Grammerly Blog, 21 Aug 2019, https://www.grammarly.com/blog/5-most-effective-methods-for-avoiding-plagiarism .

*The order and punctuation of the citation components are dictated by the style you use (above are formatted in MLA).

What is a DOI?

Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are unique identifiers that may be assigned to published articles and other works. Their purpose is ensure persistent access to online content. If a DOI is available, you should include it in your citation.

APA: Clark, D. A., & Murphy, W. (2021). The efficacy of a classroom game for teaching APA style citation. Teaching of Psychology , 48 (3), 209–214. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628320977263

MLA: Clark, Daniel A., and Walter Murphy. “The Efficacy of a Classroom Game for Teaching APA Style Citation.” Teaching of Psychology , vol. 48, no. 3, July 2021, pp. 209–14. Sage Journals , https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628320977263.

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Citation styles: apa, mla, chicago, turabian, ieee.

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• Understanding Plagiarism

Quick Links

Listed below are a few quick links to resources that will aid you in citing sources.

• Sign up for a Mendeley, EndNote, or Zotero training class.
• APA 7th Edition Published in October 2019. Visit this page for links to resources and examples.
• MLA Need help with citing MLA style? Find information here along with links to books in PittCat and free online resources.
• Chicago/Turabian Need help with citing Chicago/Turabian style? Find examples here along with links to the online style manual and free online resources.

Getting Started: How to use this guide

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 Identifier).

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.

• APA Citation Style
• MLA Citation Style
• Chicago/Turabian Citation Style
• Tools for creating bibliographies (CItation Managers)

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• Research Process
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• Cite Your Sources
• Evaluate, Write & Cite

• is the right thing to do  to give credit to those who had the idea
• shows that you have read and understand  what experts have had to say about your topic
• helps people find the sources  that you used in case they want to read more about the topic
• provides   evidence  for your arguments
• is professional and  standard practice   for students and scholars

What is a Citation?

A citation identifies for the reader the original source for an idea, information, or image that is referred to in a work.

• In the body of a paper, the  in-text citation  acknowledges the source of information used.
• At the end of a paper, the citations are compiled on a  References  or  Works Cited  list. A basic citation includes the author, title, and publication information of the source. 

From:  Lemieux  Library,  University  of Seattle 

Why Should You Cite?

Quoting Are you quoting two or more consecutive words from a source? Then the original source should be cited and the words or phrase placed in quotes. 

Paraphrasing If an idea or information comes from another source,  even if you put it in your own words , you still need to credit the source.  General vs. Unfamiliar Knowledge You do not need to cite material which is accepted common knowledge. If in doubt whether your information is common knowledge or not, cite it. Formats We usually think of books and articles. However, if you use material from web sites, films, music, graphs, tables, etc. you'll also need to cite these as well.

Plagiarism is presenting the words or ideas of someone else as your own without proper acknowledgment of the source. When you work on a research paper and use supporting material from works by others, it's okay to quote people and use their ideas, but you do need to correctly credit them. Even when you summarize or paraphrase information found in books, articles, or Web pages, you must acknowledge the original author.

Citation Style Help

Helpful links:

• MLA ,  Works Cited : A Quick Guide (a template of core elements)
• CSE  (Council of Science Editors)

For additional writing resources specific to styles listed here visit the  Purdue OWL Writing Lab

Citation and Bibliography Resources

• How to Write an Annotated Bibliography
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The land on which we gather is the unceded territory of the Awaswas-speaking Uypi Tribe. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, comprised of the descendants of indigenous people taken to missions Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista during Spanish colonization of the Central Coast, is today working hard to restore traditional stewardship practices on these lands and heal from historical trauma.

The land acknowledgement used at UC Santa Cruz was developed in partnership with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band Chairman and the Amah Mutsun Relearning Program at the UCSC Arboretum .

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A citation is a formal reference to a published or unpublished source that you consulted and obtained information from while writing your research paper. It refers to a source of information that supports a factual statement, proposition, argument, or assertion or any quoted text obtained from a book, article, web site, or any other type of material . In-text citations are embedded within the body of your paper and use a shorthand notation style that refers to a complete description of the item at the end of the paper. Materials cited at the end of a paper may be listed under the heading References, Sources, Works Cited, or Bibliography. Rules on how to properly cite a source depends on the writing style manual your professor wants you to use for the class [e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, etc.]. Note that some disciplines have their own citation rules [e.g., law; medicine].

Citations: Overview. OASIS Writing Center, Walden University; Research and Citation. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Citing Sources. University Writing Center, Texas A&M University.

Citing Your Sources

Reasons for Citing Sources in Your Research Paper

English scientist, Sir Isaac Newton, once wrote, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”* Citations support learning how to "see further" through processes of intellectual discovery, critical thinking, and applying a deliberate method of navigating through the scholarly landscape by tracking how cited works are propagated by scholars over time and the subsequent ways this leads to the devarication of new knowledge.

Listed below are specific reasons why citing sources is an important part of doing good research.

• Shows the reader where to find more information . Citations help readers expand their understanding and knowledge about the issues being investigated. One of the most effective strategies for locating authoritative, relevant sources about a research problem is to review materials cited in studies published by other authors. In this way, the sources you cite help the reader identify where to go to examine the topic in more depth and detail.
• Increases your credibility as an author . Citations to the words, ideas, and arguments of scholars demonstrates that you have conducted a thorough review of the literature and, therefore, you are reporting your research results or proposing recommended courses of action from an informed and critically engaged perspective. Your citations offer evidence that you effectively contemplated, evaluated, and synthesized sources of information in relation to your conceptualization of the research problem.
• Illustrates the non-linear and contested nature of knowledge creation . The sources you cite show the reader how you characterized the dynamics of prior knowledge creation relevant to the research problem and how you managed to identify the contested relationships between problems and solutions proposed among scholars. Citations don't just list materials used in your study, they tell a story about how prior knowledge-making emerged from a constant state of creation, renewal, and transformation.
• Reinforces your arguments . Sources cited in your paper provide the evidence that readers need to determine that you properly addressed the “So What?” question. This refers to whether you considered the relevance and significance of the research problem, its implications applied to creating new knowledge, and its importance for improving practice. In this way, citations draw attention to and support the legitimacy and originality of your own ideas and assertions.
• Demonstrates that you "listened" to relevant conversations among scholars before joining in . Your citations tell the reader where you developed an understanding of the debates among scholars. They show how you educated yourself about ongoing conversations taking place within relevant communities of researchers before inserting your own ideas and arguments. In peer-reviewed scholarship, most of these conversations emerge within books, research reports, journal articles, and other cited works.
• Delineates alternative approaches to explaining the research problem . If you disagree with prior research assumptions or you believe that a topic has been understudied or you find that there is a gap in how scholars have understood a problem, your citations serve as the source materials from which to analyze and present an alternative viewpoint or to assert that a different course of action should be pursued. In short, the materials you cite serve as the means by which to argue persuasively against long-standing assumptions promulgated in prior studies.
• Helps the reader understand contextual aspects of your research . Cited sources help readers understand the specific circumstances, conditions, and settings of the problem being investigated and, by extension, how your arguments can be fully understood and assessed. Citations place your line of reasoning within a specific contextualized framework based on how others have studied the problem and how you interpreted their findings in support of your overall research objectives.
• Frames the development of concepts and ideas within the literature . No topic in the social and behavioral sciences rests in isolation from research that has taken place in the past. Your citations help the reader understand the growth and transformation of the theoretical assumptions, key concepts, and systematic inquiries that emerged prior to your engagement with the research problem.
• Underscores sources that were most important to you . Your citations represent a set of choices made about what you determined to be the most important sources for understanding the topic. They not only list what you discovered, but why it matters and how the materials you chose to cite fit within the broader context of your research design and arguments. As part of an overall assessment of the study’s validity and reliability , the choices you make also helps the reader determine what sources of research may have been excluded.
• Provides evidence of interdisciplinary thinking . An important principle of good research is to extend your review of the literature beyond the predominant disciplinary space where scholars have previously examined a topic. Citations provide evidence that you have integrated epistemological arguments, observations, and/or methodological strategies of other disciplines into your paper, thereby demonstrating that you understand the complex, interconnected nature of contemporary research topics.
• Forms the basis for bibliometric analysis of research . Bibliometric analysis is a quantitative method used, for example, to identify and predict emerging trends in research, document patterns of collaboration among scholars, explore the intellectual structure of a specific domain of research, map the development of research within and across disciplines, or identify gaps in knowledge within the literature. Bibliometric data can also be used to visually map relationships among published studies. Citations to books, journal articles, research reports, and other publications represent the raw data used in bibliometric research.
• Reveals possible adherence to the principles of citational justice. Citational justice refers to equity in the inclusion of sources published by authors who are members of marginalized or underrepresented groups that are often under-cited because of their background, community of origin, identity, or location. In so doing, this movement “challenges entrenched hierarchies and biases in knowledge production.” ** Within this context, the sources cited in your paper can help the reader obtain a more inclusive divergency of voices and perspectives about how a research problem can be understood, contextualized, and investigated.
• Supports critical thinking and independent learning . Evaluating the authenticity, reliability, validity, and originality of prior research is an act of interpretation and introspective reasoning applied to assessing whether a source of information will contribute to understanding the problem in ways that are persuasive and align with your overall research objectives. Reviewing and citing prior studies represents a deliberate act of critically scrutinizing each source as part of your overall assessment of how scholars have confronted the research problem.
• Honors the achievements of others . As Susan Blum recently noted, *** citations not only identify sources used, they acknowledge the achievements of scholars within the larger network of research about the topic. Citing sources is a normative act of professionalism within academe and a way to highlight and recognize the work of scholars who likely do not obtain any tangible benefits or monetary value from their research endeavors. Your citations help to validate the work of others.

*Vernon. Jamie L. "On the Shoulder of Giants." American Scientist 105 (July-August 2017): 194.

**Dadze Arthur, Abena and Mary S. Mangai. "The Journal and the Quest for Epistemic Justice." Public Administration and Development 44 (2024): 11.

***Blum, Susan D. "In Defense of the Morality of Citation.” Inside Higher Ed , January 29, 2024.

Aksnes, Dag W., Liv Langfeldt, and Paul Wouters. "Citations, Citation Indicators, and Research Quality: An Overview of Basic Concepts and Theories." Sage Open 9 (January-March 2019): https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019829575; Blum, Susan Debra. My Word!: Plagiarism and College Culture . Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2009; Bretag, Tracey., editor. Handbook of Academic Integrity . Singapore: Springer Singapore, 2020; Ballenger, Bruce P. The Curious Researcher: A Guide to Writing Research Papers . 7th edition. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2012; D'Angelo, Barbara J. "Using Source Analysis to Promote Critical Thinking." Research Strategies 18 (Winter 2001): 303-309; Kwon, Diana. “The Rise of Citational Justice.” Nature 603 (March 24, 2022): 568-572; Donthu, Naveen et al. “How to Conduct a Bibliometric Analysis: An Overview and Guidelines.” Journal of Business Research 133 (2021): 285-296; Mauer, Barry and John Venecek. “Scholarship as Conversation.” Strategies for Conducting Literary Research, University of Central Florida, 2021; Öztürk, Oguzhan, Ridvan Kocaman, and Dominik K. Kanbach. "How to Design Bibliometric Research: An Overview and a Framework Proposal." Review of Managerial Science (2024): 1-29; Why Cite? Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning, Yale University; Citing Information. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Harvard Guide to Using Sources. Harvard College Writing Program. Harvard University; Newton, Philip. "Academic Integrity: A Quantitative Study of Confidence and Understanding in Students at the Start of Their Higher Education."  Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 41 (2016): 482-497; Referencing More Effectively. Academic Skills Centre. University of Canberra; Using Sources. Yale College Writing Center. Yale University; Vosburgh, Richard M. "Closing the Academic-practitioner Gap: Research Must Answer the “SO WHAT” Question." H uman Resource Management Review 32 (March 2022): 100633; When and Why to Cite Sources. Information Literacy Playlists, SUNY, Albany Libraries.

Structure and Writing Style

Referencing your sources means systematically showing what information or ideas you acquired from another author’s work, and identifying where that information come from . You must cite research in order to do research, but at the same time, you need to delineate what are your original thoughts and ideas and what are the thoughts and ideas of others. Citations establish the demarcation between each set of statements. Procedures used to cite sources vary among different fields of study. If not outlined in your course syllabus or writing assignment, always speak with your professor about what writing style for citing sources should be used for the class because it is important to fully understand the citation rules that should be used in your paper and to apply them consistently. If your professor defers and tells you to "choose whatever you want, just be consistent," then choose the citation style you are most familiar with or that is appropriate to your major [e.g., use Chicago style if you are majoring in history; use APA if its an education course; use MLA if it is a general writing course].

For examples of common citation styles, GO HERE .

GENERAL GUIDELINES

1. Are there any reasons I should avoid referencing other people's work? No. If placed in the proper context, r eferencing other people's research is never an indication that your work is substandard or lacks originality. In fact, the opposite is true. If you write your paper without adequate references to previous studies, you are signaling to the reader that you are not familiar with the literature on the topic, thereby, undermining the validity of your study and your credibility as a researcher. Including references in academic writing is one of the most important ways to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of how the research problem has been addressed. It is the intellectual packaging around which you present your thoughts, ideas, and arguments to the reader.

2. What should I do if I find out that my great idea has already been studied by another researcher? It can be frustrating to come up with what you believe is a great topic for your paper only to discover that it's already been thoroughly studied. However, do not become frustrated by this. You can acknowledge the prior research by writing in the text of your paper [see also Smith, 2002], then citing the complete source in your list of references. Use the discovery of prior studies as an opportunity to demonstrate the significance of the problem being investigated and, if applicable, as a means of delineating your analysis from those of others [e.g., the prior study is ten years old and doesn't take into account new variables]. Strategies for responding to prior research can include: stating how your study updates previous understandings about the topic, offering a new or different perspective, applying a different or innovative method of gathering and interpreting data, and/or describing a new set of insights, guidelines, recommendations, best practices, or working solutions.

3. What should I do if I want to use an adapted version of someone else's work? You still must cite the original work. For example, you use a table of statistics from a journal article published in 1996 by author Smith, but you have altered or added new data to it. Reference the revised chart, such as, [adapted from Smith, 1996], then cite the original source in your list of references. You can also use other terms in order to specify the exact relationship between the original source and the version you have presented, such as, "based on data from Smith [1996]...," or "summarized from Smith [1996]...." Citing the original source helps the reader locate where the information was first presented and under what context it was used as well as to evaluate how effectively you adapted it to your own research.

4. What should I do if several authors have published very similar information or ideas? You can indicate that the topic, idea, concept, or information can be found in the works of others by stating something similar to the following example: "Though many scholars have applied rational choice theory to understanding economic relations among nations [Smith, 1989; Jones, 1991; Johnson, 1994; Anderson, 2003; Smith, 2014], little attention has been given to applying the theory to examining the influence of non-governmental organizations in a globalized economy." If you only reference one author or only the most recent study, then your readers may assume that only one author has published on this topic, or more likely, they will conclude that you have not conducted a thorough review of the literature. Referencing all relevant authors of prior studies gives your readers a clear idea of the breadth of analysis you conducted in preparing to study the research problem. If there has been a significant number of prior studies on the topic [i.e., ten or more], describe the most comprehensive and recent works because they will presumably discuss and reference the older studies. However, note in your review of the literature that there has been significant scholarship devoted to the topic so the reader knows that you are aware of the numerous prior studies.

5. What if I find exactly what I want to say in the writing of another researcher? In the social sciences, the rationale in duplicating prior research is generally governed by the passage of time, changing circumstances or conditions, or the emergence of variables that necessitate new investigations . If someone else has recently conducted a thorough investigation of precisely the same research problem that you intend to study, then you likely will have to revise your topic, or at the very least, review this literature to identify something new to say about the problem. However, if it is someone else's particularly succinct expression, but it fits perfectly with what you are trying to say, then you can quote from the author directly, referencing the source. Identifying an author who has made the exact same point that you want to make can be an opportunity to validate, as well as reinforce the significance of, the research problem you are investigating. The key is to build on that idea in new and innovative ways. If you are not sure how to do this, consult with a librarian .

6. Should I cite a source even if it was published long ago? Any source used in writing your paper should be cited, regardless of when it was written. However, in building a case for understanding prior research about your topic, it is generally true that you should focus on citing more recently published studies because they presumably have built upon the research of older studies. When referencing prior studies, use the research problem as your guide when considering what to cite. If a study from forty years ago investigated the same topic, it probably should be examined and considered in your list of references because the research may have been foundational or groundbreaking at the time, even if its findings are no longer relevant to current conditions or reflect current thinking [one way to determine if a study is foundational or groundbreaking is to examine how often it has been cited in recent studies using the "Cited by" feature of Google Scholar ]. However, if an older study only relates to the research problem tangentially or it has not been cited in recent studies, then it may be more appropriate to list it under further readings .

7. Can I cite unusual and non-scholarly sources in my research paper? The majority of the citations in a research paper should be to scholarly [a.k.a., academic; peer-reviewed] studies that rely on an objective and logical analysis of the research problem based on empirical evidence that reliably supports your arguments. However, any type of source can be considered valid if it brings relevant understanding and clarity to the topic. This can include, for example, non-textual elements such as photographs, maps, or illustrations. A source can include materials from special or archival collections, such as, personal papers, manuscripts, business memorandums, the official records of an organization, or digitized collections. Citations can also be to unusual items, such as, an audio recording, a transcript from a television news program, a unique set of data, or a social media post. The challenge is knowing how to cite unusual and non-scholarly sources because they often do not fit within consistent citation rules of books or journal articles. Given this, consult with a librarian if you are unsure how to cite a source.

NOTE:   In any academic writing, you are required to identify which ideas, facts, thoughts, concepts, or declarative statements are yours and which are derived from the research of others. The only exception to this rule is information that is considered to be a commonly known fact [e.g., "George Washington was the first president of the United States"] or a statement that is self-evident [e.g., "Australia is a country in the Global South"]. Appreciate, however, that any "commonly known fact" or self-evidencing statement is culturally constructed and shaped by specific social and aesthetical biases . If you have any doubt about whether or not a fact is considered to be widely understood knowledge, provide a supporting citation, or, ask your professor for clarification about whether the statement should be cited.

ANOTHER NOTE:   What is a foundational or groundbreaking study? In general, this refers to a study that investigated a research problem which , up to that point, had never been clearly defined or explained. If you trace a research topic back in time using citations as your guide, you will often discover an original study or set of studies that was the first to identify, explain the significance, and thoroughly investigate a problem. It is considered f oundational or groundbreaking because it pushed the boundaries of existing knowledge and influenced how researchers thought about the problem in new or innovative ways. Evidence of  foundational or groundbreaking research is the number of times a study has been subsequently cited, and continues to be cited, since it was first published.

Ballenger, Bruce P. The Curious Researcher: A Guide to Writing Research Papers . 7th edition. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2012; Blum, Susan Debra. My Word!: Plagiarism and College Culture . Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2009; Bretag, Tracey., editor. Handbook of Academic Integrity . Singapore: Springer Singapore, 2020; Carlock, Janine. Developing Information Literacy Skills: A Guide to Finding, Evaluating, and Citing Sources . Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2020; Harvard Guide to Using Sources. Harvard College Writing Program. Harvard University; How to Cite Other Sources in Your Paper. The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Department of Biology. Bates College; Lunsford, Andrea A. and Robert Connors; The St. Martin's Handbook . New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989; Mills, Elizabeth Shown. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace . 3rd edition. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2015; Research and Citation Resources. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing Tutorial Services, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. Indiana University; Why Cite? Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning, Yale Univeraity.

Other Citation Research Guides

The following USC Libraries research guide can help you properly cite sources in your research paper:

• Citation Guide

The following USC Libraries research guide offers basic information on using images and media in research:

Listed below are particularly well-done and comprehensive websites that provide specific examples of how to cite sources under different style guidelines.

• Purdue University Online Writing Lab
• Southern Cross University Harvard Referencing Style
• University of Wisconsin Writing Center

This is a useful guide concerning how to properly cite images in your research paper.

• Colgate Visual Resources Library, Citing Images

This guide provides good information on the act of citation analysis, whereby you count the number of times a published work is cited by other works in order to measure the impact of a publication or author.

Measuring Your Impact: Impact Factor, Citation Analysis, and other Metrics: Citation Analysis [Sandy De Groote, University of Illinois, Chicago]

Automatic Citation Generators

The links below lead to systems where you can type in your information and have a citation compiled for you. Note that these systems are not foolproof so it is important that you verify that the citation is correct and check your spelling, capitalization, etc. However, they can be useful in creating basic types of citations, particularly for online sources.

• BibMe -- APA, MLA, Chicago, and Turabian styles
• DocsCite -- for citing government publications in APA or MLA formats
• EasyBib -- APA, MLA, and Chicago styles
• Son of Citation Machine -- APA, MLA, Chicago, and Turabian styles

NOTE:   Many companies that create the research databases the USC Libraries subscribe to, such as ProQuest , include built-in citation generators that help take the guesswork out of how to properly cite a work. When available, you should always utilize these features because they not only generate a citation to the source [e.g., a journal article], but include information about where you accessed the source [e.g., the database].

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Research and Citation Resources

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

If you are having trouble locating a specific resource please visit the  search page  or the  Site Map . The Citation Chart  provides a detailed overview of MLA Style, APA Style, and Chicago Manual of Style source documentation by category.

Conducting Research

These OWL resources will help you conduct research using primary source methods, such as interviews and observations, and secondary source methods, such as books, journals, and the Internet. This area also includes materials on evaluating research sources.

Using Research

These OWL resources will help you use the research you have conducted in your documents. This area includes material on quoting and paraphrasing your research sources, as well as material on how to avoid plagiarism.

APA Style (7th Edition)

These OWL resources will help you learn how to use the American Psychological Association (APA) citation and format style. This section contains resources on in-text citation and the References page, as well as APA sample papers, slide presentations, and the APA classroom poster.

These OWL resources will help you learn how to use the Modern Language Association (MLA) citation and format style. This section contains resources on in-text citation and the Works Cited page, as well as MLA sample papers, slide presentations, and the MLA classroom poster

Chicago Manual of Style

This section contains information on the Chicago Manual of Style method of document formatting and citation. These resources follow the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style, which was issued in 2017.

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Style

These resources describe how to structure papers, cite sources, format references, and handle the complexities of tables and figures according to the latest Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) guidelines.

American Medical Association (AMA) Style

These resources provide guidance on how to cite sources using American Medical Association (AMA) Style, 10th Ed., including examples for print and electronic sources.

Research Overview

We live in an age overflowing with sources of information. With so many information sources at our fingertips, knowing where to start, sorting through it all and finding what we want can be overwhelming! This handout provides answers to the following research-related questions: Where do I begin? Where should I look for information? What types of sources are available?

Conducting Primary Research

Primary research involves collecting data about a given subject directly from the real world. This section includes information on what primary research is, how to get started, ethics involved with primary research and different types of research you can do. It includes details about interviews, surveys, observations, and analysis.

Evaluating Sources of Information

Evaluating sources of information is an important step in any research activity. This section provides information on evaluating bibliographic citations, aspects of evaluation, reading evaluation, print vs. online sources, and evaluating Internet sources.

Searching Online

This section covers finding information online. It includes information about search engines, Boolean operators, Web directories, and the invisible Web. It also includes an extensive, annotated links section.

Internet References

This page contains links and short descriptions of writing resources including dictionaries, style manuals, grammar handbooks, and editing resources. It also contains a list of online reference sites, indexes for writers, online libraries, books and e-texts, as well as links to newspapers, news services, journals, and online magazines.

Archival Research

This resource discusses conducting research in a variety of archives. It also discusses a number of considerations and best practices for conducting archival research.

This resources was developed in consultation with Purdue University Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections staff.

Organizing Academic Research Papers: 11. Citing Sources

• Purpose of Guide
• Design Flaws to Avoid
• Glossary of Research Terms
• Narrowing a Topic Idea
• Broadening a Topic Idea
• Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
• Academic Writing Style
• Choosing a Title
• Making an Outline
• Paragraph Development
• Executive Summary
• Background Information
• The Research Problem/Question
• Theoretical Framework
• Citation Tracking
• Content Alert Services
• Evaluating Sources
• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Tertiary Sources
• What Is Scholarly vs. Popular?
• Qualitative Methods
• Quantitative Methods
• Using Non-Textual Elements
• Limitations of the Study
• Common Grammar Mistakes
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Footnotes or Endnotes?
• Further Readings
• Annotated Bibliography
• Dealing with Nervousness
• Using Visual Aids
• Grading Someone Else's Paper
• How to Manage Group Projects
• Multiple Book Review Essay
• Reviewing Collected Essays
• About Informed Consent
• Writing Field Notes
• Writing a Policy Memo
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Acknowledgements

A citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source that you consulted and obtained information from while writing your research paper. The way in which you document your sources depends on the writing style manual your professor wants you to use for the class [e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, etc.]. Note that some disciplines have their own citation method [e.g., law].

Importance of a Citing your Sources

Citations show your readers where you obtained your material, provides a means of critiquing your study, and offers the opportunity to obtain additional information about the research problem under investigation.

Properly citing the works of others is important because:

• Proper citation allows others to locate the materials you used . Citations to other sources helps readers expand their knowledge on a topic. In some disciplines, one of the most effective strategies for locating authoritative, relevant sources is to follow footnotes or references from known sources ["citation tracking"].
• Citing other people's words and ideas indicates that you have conducted thorough review of the literature on your topic and, therefore, you are operating from an informed perspective. This increases your credibility as the author of the work.
• Other researcher's ideas can be used to reinforce your arguments , or, if you disagree with them, can act as positions from which to argue an alternative viewpoint. In many cases, another researcher's arguments can act as the primary context from which you can emphasize a different viewpoint or to clarify the importance of what you are proposing.
• Ju st as other researcher's ideas can bolster your arguments and act as evidence for your ideas, they can also detract from your credibility if they are found to be mistaken or fabricated . Properly citing information not unique to you prevents your reputation from being tarnished if the facts or ideas of others are proven to be inaccurate or off-base.
• Outside academe, ideas are considered intellectual property and there can serious repercussions if you fail to cite where you got an idea from . In the professional world, failure to cite other people's intellectual property ruins careers and reputations and can result in legal action. Given this, it is important to get into the habit of citing sources.

In any academic writing, you are required to identify for your reader which ideas, facts, theories, concepts, etc., are yours and which are derived from the research and thoughts of others. Whether you summarize, paraphrase, or use direct quotes, if it's not your original idea, the source needs to be acknowledged. The only exception to this rule is information that is considered to be common knowledge [e.g., George Washington was the first president of the United States]. If in doubt regarding whether something is common knowledge, take the safe route and cite it, or ask your professor for clarification.

Citing Information . The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Referencing More Effectively. Academic Skills Centre. University of Canberra.

Structure and Writing Style

Referencing your sources means systematically showing what information or ideas you are quoting or paraphrasing from another author’s work, and where they come from . You must cite research in order to do research, but at the same time, you must indicate what are your original thoughts and ideas and what are the thoughts and ideas of others. Systems used to reference the sources you've used vary among different fields of study. However, always speak with your professor about what writing style for citing sources should be used for the class because it is important to fully understand the citation style to be used in your paper, and to apply it consistently.

GENERAL GUIDELINES

• Should I avoid referencing other people's work?  No! Referencing other people's work is never an indication that your work is poor or lacks originality if placed in the proper context. In fact, the opposite is true. If you write your paper with no references to previous research, you are indicating to the reader that you are not familiar with the research that has already been done, thereby undermining your credibility as an author and the validity of your research. Including references in academic writing is a way of demonstrating your knowledge of pertinent literature about the research problem.
• What should I do if I find that my idea has already been published by another researcher?  Acknowledge the other researcher's work by writing in your reference something like this: [see also Smith, 2002]. Do not ignore another author's work because doing so will lead your readers to believe that you have either taken the idea or information without properly referencing it [this is plagiarism] or that you have failed to conduct a thorough review of the literature in your field.
• What should I do if I want to use an adapted version of someone else's work?  You still must cite the original work. For example, maybe you are using a table of statistics from a journal article published in 1996 by author Smith, but you have altered or added new data to it. Reference the revised chart as: [adapted from Smith, 1996]. You can also use other terms in order to specify the exact relationship between the source and the version you have presented, such as, based on Smith [1996], summarized from Smith  [1996], etc.
• What should I do if several authors have published very similar information or ideas?  You can indicate that the idea or information can be found in the work of more than one author, by stating something like: "Though in fact many authors have applied this theory to understanding economic relations among nations [for example, Smith, 1989; Jones, 19991; Johnson, 1994], little work has been done on applying it to understand the actions of non-governmental organizations." If you only reference one author, then your readers may assume that only one author has published on this topic, or, conclude that you have not read the literature thoroughly knowing that others have published research in this area. Referencing multiple authors indicates to your readers a clear idea of the breadth of analysis you conducted about the research problem, not a distorted or incomplete one.
• What if I find exactly what I want to say in the writing of another researcher?  It depends on what it is; if someone else has investigated precisely the same research problem as you, then you likely will have to change your topic, or at the very least, find something new to say about what you're researching. However, if it is someone else's particularly succinct expression, but it fits perfectly with what you are trying to say, then you can quote directly, citing the page reference as well as the author and year of publication. Finding someone else who has stated or made the same point that you have is an opportunity to reinforce your own interpretation of the research problem.

How to Cite Other Sources in Your Paper . The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Department of Biology. Bates College; Lunsford, Andrea A. and Robert Connors; The St. Martin's Handbook. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989; Research and Citation Resources . The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Using Evidence. Writing Tutorial Services, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. Indiana University.  

Citation Research Guides

SHU Library has a collection of Quick Guides to help you cite your sources. They are all available on our Citation Style Guides page.

Listed below are particularly well-done and comprehensive websites that provide specific examples of how to cite sources under different style guidelines.

• Purdue University Online Writing Lab
• University of Wisconsin Writing Center

Automatic Citation Generators

Type in your information and have a citation compiled for you. Note that these are not foolproof systems so it is important that you verify that your citation is correct and check your spelling, capitalization, etc. However, they can be useful in creating basic types of citations, particularly for online sources.

• BibMe -- APA, MLA, Chicago, and Turabian styles
• DocsCite -- for citing government publications in APA or MLA formats
• EasyBib -- MLA style
• KnightCite -- APA, MLA, and Chicago styles
• Son of Citation Machine -- APA, MLA, Chicago, and Turabian styles

Most databases provide some kind of automatically generated citations for the major citation styles. Here is a video explaining how to find the citation feature in an EBSCO database. 

• Research 911: Citations (printable tutorial)
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APA 7th Edition Style Guide

• In-Text Citations
• About APA Style
• Format Your Paper
• Reference List
• Practice Your APA Style Skills!

Video: The Basics of APA In-text Citations

About In-Text Citations

When writing your papers, it essential to recognize other authors who contributed to your work and avoid plagiarism. 

Use in-text citations when:

• paraphrasing
• directly quoting 
• referring to another person’s writing
• referring to data from prior studies
• reusing tables, figures, images, or passages

These should always include the author’s last name and year. When using a direct quote, also include the page number.

Types of In-Text Citation

• Paraphrasing or Summarizing
• Missing Information

When paraphrasing or summarizing information, in-text citations must include the author's last name and year of publication. This will be in parenthesis at the end of a sentence, with a space between the name and year, and a comma after the name. 

Example 1: single author

Falsely balanced news coverage can distort the public’s perception of expert consensus on an issue (Koehler, 2016).

Example 2: more than one author

Two authors: (Koehler & Smith, 2016)​

Three or more authors: (Koehler et al., 2016)

As an alternative to parenthetical citations, you can cite the source in your narrative, which allows you to incorporate the authors more closely into your discussion:

Example 3: narrative citation

Koehler (2016) noted the dangers of falsely balanced news coverage.​

When using direct quotations in your paper, your in-text citation should also include a page number when available. The page number will come after the year, with a comma after the year. Longer quotations are to be formatted as a block quotation, meaning the entire quotation starts on a separate line and is indented 0.5 inches. Quotations can also be in narrative format. 

Example 1: short quotation (less than 40 words)

Effective teams can be difficult to describe because “high performance along one domain does not translate to high performance along another” (Ervin et al., 2018, p. 470).​

Example 2: block quotation (40 or more words)

Researchers have studied how people talk to themselves:​

​Inner speech is a paradoxical phenomenon. It is an experience that is central to many people’s everyday lives, and yet it presents considerable challenges to any effort to study it scientifically. Nevertheless, a wide range of methodologies and approaches have combined to shed light on the subjective experience of inner speech and its cognitive and neural underpinnings (Alderson-Day & Fernyhough, 2015, p. 957).

Example 3: block quotation in narrative form

Flores et al. (2018) described how they addressed potential researcher bias when working with an intersectional community of transgender people of color:​

Everyone on the research team belonged to a stigmatized group but also held privileged identities. Throughout the research process, we attended to the ways in which our privileged and oppressed identities may have influenced the research process, findings, and presentation of results. (p. 311)

Use the chart below to determine what to do if you are missing information for in-text citation.

Online Resource

• APA.org: In-Text Citations View elements to utilizing in-text citations, including paraphrasing, parenthetical vs. narrative in-text citations, secondary sources, and more.
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• Last Updated: Sep 9, 2024 10:51 AM
• URL: https://library.csustan.edu/APA7_StyleGuide

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• What are citations and why should I use them?

When should I use a citation?

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• Citing Sources

Citing Sources: When should I use a citation?

A citation should be used when content that did not originate with you is used to support your writing.

Content includes:

• words (quotations, phrases, sayings, etc.)
• thoughts or ideas (summarizations and paraphrases)
• audio or visual material (photos, videos, screencaptures, powerpoint slides, social media content, audio recordings, etc.)

Here are a few pages from Excelsior OWL's guide to writing process to get you started:

• Summarizing sources
• Paraphrasing sources
• Using quotations

What you don't need to cite

No need to cite what is known as common knowledge.

But, what is common knowledge?  Common knowledge includes information that someone can easily trace and find the answer to.  In an academic context, common knowledge will depend on the audience, but here are some examples to get you started:

• There are 24 hours in a day.
• The President of the United States can serve up to two terms in office, each term lasting four years.
• The phone number for emergency services in the United States is 9-1-1

More examples of how to determine if something is common knowledge:

• Common Knowledge & Plagiarism (from Excelsior OWL)

When in doubt, cite --  You won’t be judged harshly for adding a citation when it isn’t needed.  However, skipping a citation (whether it’s an accident or not) could be considered plagiarism, which can have serious consequences.

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• Last Updated: May 1, 2024 12:48 PM
• URL: https://guides.lib.uw.edu/research/citations

A direct quotation reproduces words verbatim from another work or from your own previously published work. It is best to paraphrase sources rather than directly quoting them because paraphrasing allows you to fit material to the context of your paper and writing style.

Use direct quotations rather than paraphrasing:

• when reproducing an exact definition (see Section 6.22 of the Publication Manual ),
• when an author has said something memorably or succinctly, or
• when you want to respond to exact wording (e.g., something someone said).

Instructors, programs, editors, and publishers may establish limits on the use of direct quotations. Consult your instructor or editor if you are concerned that you may have too much quoted material in your paper.

This page addresses how to format short quotations and block quotations. Additional information is available about how to:

• include page numbers for quotations
• cite quotations from material without page numbers
• cite quotations that include errors
• indicate changes to quotations
• present quotations from research participants

Quotations are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Sections 8.25 to 8.35 and the Concise Guide Sections 8.25 to 8.34

Related handout

• In-Text Citation Checklist (PDF, 227KB)

Short quotations (fewer than 40 words)

For quotations of fewer than 40 words, add quotation marks around the words and incorporate the quote into your own text—there is no additional formatting needed. Do not insert an ellipsis at the beginning and/or end of a quotation unless the original source includes an ellipsis.

Effective teams can be difficult to describe because “high performance along one domain does not translate to high performance along another” (Ervin et al., 2018, p. 470).

For a direct quotation, always include a full citation ( parenthetical or narrative ) in the same sentence as the quotation, including the page number (or other location information, e.g., paragraph number).

• Place a parenthetical citation either immediately after the quotation or at the end of the sentence.
• For a narrative citation, include the author and year in the sentence and then place the page number or other location information in parentheses after the quotation.
• If the quotation precedes the narrative citation, put the page number or location information after the year and a comma.
• If the citation appears at the end of a sentence, put the end punctuation after the closing parenthesis for the citation.
• If the quotation includes citations, see Section 8.32 of the Publication Manual .
• If the quotation includes material already in quotation marks, see Section 8.33 of the Publication Manual .
• Place periods and commas within closing single or double quotation marks. Place other punctuation marks inside quotation marks only when they are part of the quoted material.

Block quotations (40 words or more)

Format quotations of 40 words or more as block quotations:

• Do not use quotation marks to enclose a block quotation.
• Start a block quotation on a new line and indent the whole block 0.5 in. from the left margin.
• Double-space the entire block quotation.
• Do not add extra space before or after it.
• If there are additional paragraphs within the quotation, indent the first line of each subsequent paragraph an additional 0.5 in. See an example in Section 8.27 of the Publication Manual .
• Either (a) cite the source in parentheses after the quotation’s final punctuation or (b) cite the author and year in the narrative before the quotation and place only the page number in parentheses after the quotation’s final punctuation.
• Do not add a period after the closing parenthesis in either case.

Block quotation with parenthetical citation:

Researchers have studied how people talk to themselves:

Inner speech is a paradoxical phenomenon. It is an experience that is central to many people’s everyday lives, and yet it presents considerable challenges to any effort to study it scientifically. Nevertheless, a wide range of methodologies and approaches have combined to shed light on the subjective experience of inner speech and its cognitive and neural underpinnings. (Alderson-Day & Fernyhough, 2015, p. 957)

Block quotation with narrative citation:

Flores et al. (2018) described how they addressed potential researcher bias when working with an intersectional community of transgender people of color:

Everyone on the research team belonged to a stigmatized group but also held privileged identities. Throughout the research process, we attended to the ways in which our privileged and oppressed identities may have influenced the research process, findings, and presentation of results. (p. 311)

Welcome to the new OASIS website! We have academic skills, library skills, math and statistics support, and writing resources all together in one new home.

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Using Evidence: Citing Sources Properly

Citing sources properly is essential to avoiding plagiarism in your writing. Not citing sources properly could imply that the ideas, information, and phrasing you are using are your own, when they actually originated with another author. Plagiarism doesn't just mean copy and pasting another author's words. Review Amber's blog post, "Avoiding Unintentional Plagiarism," for more information! Plagiarism can occur when authors:

• Do not include enough citations for paraphrased information,
• Paraphrase a source incorrectly,
• Do not use quotation marks, or
• Directly copy and paste phrasing from a source without quotation marks or citations.

Read more about how to avoid these types of plagiarism on the following subpages and review the Plagiarism Detection & Revision Skills video playlist on this page. For more information on avoiding plagiarism, see our Plagiarism Prevention Resource Kit .

Also make sure to consult our resources on citations to learn about the correct formatting for citations.

What to Consider

Citation issues can appear when writers use too much information from a source, rather than including their own ideas and commentary on sources' information. Here are some factors to consider when citing sources:

Remember that the cited material should illustrate rather than substitute for your point. Make sure your paper is more than a collection of ideas from your sources; it should provide an original interpretation of that material. For help with creating this commentary while also avoiding personal opinion, see our Commentary vs. Opinion resource.

The opening sentence of each paragraph should be your topic sentence , and the final sentence in the paragraph should conclude your point and lead into the next. Without these aspects, you leave your reader without a sense of the paragraph's main purpose. Additionally, the reader may not understand your reasons for including that material.

All material that you cite should contribute to your main argument (also called a thesis or purpose statement). When reading the literature, keep that argument in mind, noting ideas or research that speaks specifically to the issues in your particular study. See our synthesis demonstration for help learning how to use the literature in this way.

Most research papers should include a variety of sources from the last 3-5 years. You may find one particularly useful study, but try to balance your references to that study with research from other authors. Otherwise, your paper becomes a book report on that one source and lacks richness of theoretical perspective.

Direct quotations are best avoided whenever possible. While direct quotations can be useful for illustrating a rhetorical choice of your author, in most other cases paraphrasing the material is more appropriate. Using your own words by paraphrasing will better demonstrate your understanding and will allow you to emphasize the ways in which the ideas contribute to your paper's main argument.

Plagiarism Detection & Revising Skills Video Playlist

Citing Sources Video Playlist

Related Resources

Didn't find what you need? Email us at [email protected] .

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How to cite a research paper in ieee format

For more complete examples, please refer to the link above. Model for resexrch from a scientific database DB Love research paper pdf descriptive phrase [record locator]; accessed date. Accessed on: Month, Day, Year. However, these should never be labeled how to cite a research paper in ieee format enumerated. You can use lots reseaarch cutting-edge iree within the software, such as:. Let us know in the comments section below! Types of sources covered include:. This is so that engineers working on practical problems, who may not have significant background in your particular field, will be able to understand the application of your work to theirs. These guidelines vary from what is expected in the Business Report Writing Guidelines. Index Terms — Aerospace engineering, biomimetics, CMOS process, damascene integration, evolutionary computation, fuzzy systems. Awesome nursing subject help in such a short amount of time. Technical reports often include detailed research on an organization's own work concerning a problem.

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• Using Dimensions

Using Dimensions: Home

Created by health science librarians.

About Dimensions

Basic search, searching with filters, advanced search, saving searches, exporting results for citation managers or bibliometric mapping.

• Data Analyses & Visualizations
• Document Types
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Bioinformatics & Research Data Librarian

Dimensions is a large online bibliometric database of items spanning the full research lifecycle. Dimensions sources include:

• Publications
• News articles
• Clinical trials
• Policy documents

Dimensions allows users to:

• Search for a wide variety of content types, ranging from grants to policy documents
• Identify connections between content types, such as connections between grants and publications or policy documents
• Look for potential research funding sources
• Evaluate the research impact of publications, individuals, research groups, departments and universities
• View metrics for publications, including field citation ratio, relative citation ratio, and Altmetric Attention Score

Everyone at UNC has access to the subscription version of Dimensions. To access the subscription version:

• Go to the Dimensions website
• Select 'Register for free'
• Use your UNC email address to register
• Sign in with your ONYEN

Dimensions defaults to searching keywords in full text. When you select the search bar at the top of the page, two basic search options are available: Keyword Search and Similar Documents.

Keyword Search : you can input keywords and Dimensions will search for the keywords in the full text or title and abstract of the database items. You can also search for specific articles with their DOI.

Similar Documents : you can copy and paste a full abstract, and Dimensions will use the abstract to find similar items.

You can use filters to build or narrow a search. 

Filters can be found on the left side of the search page. Each filter category (e.g. researcher, funder, document type) is referred to as an 'entity'.

You can limit your search by selecting your desired filter under entities. If the filter you want is not shown under the entity, you can select "More" to search for the filter you want. For example, to limit results to those affiliated with UNC Chapel Hill, select "More" under "Research Organization" and search for UNC Chapel Hill.

When you select multiple filters within the same entity, Dimensions connects the filters with OR. For example, if you select both UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC-Greensboro in the Research Organization entity, Dimensions will search for all items affiliated with UNC-Chapel Hill or UNC-Greensboro.

If you want to connect two filters from the same entity with an AND relationship, click 'Limit to' next to the entity, rather the the one at the bottom of the screen. For example, to search for all research affiliated with both UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC-Greensboro, select 'Limit to' next to UNC-Chapel Hill and then select 'Limit to' next to UNC-Greensboro.

When you select multiple filters from different entities, Dimensions connects the filters from different entities with AND. For example, if you select UNC-Chapel Hill in the Research Organization entity, and National Cancer Institute under the Funder entity, Dimensions will search for all items affiliated with UNC-Chapel Hill that were funded by the National Cancer Institute.

After clicking on the search box at the top of the screen, you can also select "Advanced" for additional search options.

The Advanced Search allows you to build a larger search with Boolean logic. Here are some tips for using the advanced search:

• AND, OR, and NOT need to be capitalized
• Parenthesis can be used to control the order of the search, with the innermost parenthesis done first
• Use ? as single character wildcard
• Use * as a multi-character wildcard
• Use " "~n for proximity searching

Search terms can be entered as free text or added from the "Search Fields" menu with the assistance of a drop-down menu. Provided a list of DOIs, ISBNs, PubMed IDs, arXiv IDs, PMC IDs, or  Dimensions publication IDs, the "ID Search" menu can search for up to 25,000 documents simultaneously.

Save your searches by selecting "Save/Export" near the search bar, then selecting "Save as favorite" .

When saving a search, you will be prompted to give it a name, and can choose to get email updates if new results appear in the database.

Saved searches can be accessed at any time in the "Favorites" tab next to search filters.

To share a search with another user, select the search from the favorites tab and copy the URL. The URL link will direct people to the same search, and will allow them to save the same search themselves.

You can export your searches by selecting "Save/Export" on the top of the screen and selecting "Export results" .

To export to a citation manager, select "Export for reference manager" and choose the file type (BibTeX or RIS). You can choose to receive an email when the export is ready.

To export for bibliographic mapping, select "Export for bibliographic mapping". You can choose to receive an email when the export is ready.

You can view and download files for export in the Export Center. The Export Center is accessible by selecting your account name in the upper right corner, then selecting "Export Center". Your exports will be available for 30 days after exporting.

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Speaker 1: The days before the development of citation managers were very difficult. Research student have to keep on adding citations manually, have to write those in a proper citation style manually. And when at the end if student find that certain reference was missing, certain citation was missing, he had to go through all his text and add the citation where he want, change all the numbers of the citations or change the citation style manually. He had to change the reference list, but citations managers have made this thing very easy nowadays. How? I will show you. Now we will see how to download and install Mendeley Desktop on computer. Go to Google and search for Mendeley Desktop, Mendeley Desktop and go for this download page, download Mendeley Desktop for Windows. For other operating system also installers are there. Download has been started. After completion of download, click on this download file. It will open the installer and this is the dialog box Mendeley Desktop 1.19.4 version and it is asking whether to install it or not. Will you install it? Yes, and will follow the instructions. And this is the license agreement. I will click I agree. This is the location where it will get stored and I will give the permission to install it. Installation is going on. It will take some time. Now installation is complete. I will click finish and it will run. And it is asking me email and password, but I haven't registered it. Therefore I will register first. Register. It will take me to the registration webpage and I will type my email and I will continue. It is asking me password because I think I have registered with this email ID. Now I don't remember the password, but I will try one. Sign in. Password is incorrect. I will go for forgot password and send me a link. It is asking me to check my email for that, for the link and the reset link is there. But if you haven't registered, you have to register it. Then it will ask you to set your password, set your password, and then you will be able to use Mendeley Desktop as your own reference manager. And here that reset link is there. I will change that. New password. Continue to Mendeley. And here I will go to the welcome dialog box. I will type my mail ID as my username. Okay, I have signed in and this is asking me, this is a welcome dialog box asking me for the plugins. This reference manager I will install and it says that it is installed. But this citation plugin for Microsoft Word, I will install it now. And if your word is open, it will ask you to close it. It is installed. Close. And now you are ready to use Mendeley Desktop as your reference manager. Now we will learn how to use Mendeley Desktop. I will open it and here it is asking me to sign in my user ID, my password. I will click this stay signed in because this is my machine and nobody other use it. And here Mendeley Desktop is open. It is showing me the welcome screen. I will close it because both the plugins I have installed. I close it. Mendeley Desktop is showing me the new developments. I will close this and first when you try to learn any new software, you have to get well accustomed with its interface. And this Mendeley Desktop has these four panes and this pane is where Explorer is. Here you can explore various folders where your references will be there. And this is filters and you can apply any filter you want. Filter by author, filter by authors, filter by tags, filter by publications. These filters help you to find out the paper you need. And this is the place where your papers, your reference papers will be listed. And this is the place where more information about the reference papers from this data set will be shown to you. Now to get papers here, we need to add those papers and there are two ways to add the papers. One is to add file. You may have papers, reference papers listed. You may have reference papers downloaded on your drive. I will add that and here I will click add and it is showing me the open dialog box, add files. I will go to the downloads because I may have some paper there. I will get this Introduction to Mathematical Biology. This is a book. I will add it, open. And addition is taking place. And here it has automatically populated these fields. Your author name is there, Ilyar DL, Introduction to Mathematical Biology, year 1976, publisher and time for addition. I will select it. And when I select it, the more information about this opens in this pan, here details and type is book, Introduction to Mathematical Biology. It has automatically detected that it's a book. Title of that book is here, author name is here, then publication is here, year, volume, issue and pages, total number of pages is there. The abstract and author keywords and all that information is there. And this is the location where it shows where the file is located. And like this you can add a reference papers in your database. Another way is there, instead of adding one file, you can add folder. You can select any folder where you generally download your reference papers. If you click this, that's okay. I will not do that. Then another third way is you can ask it to watch folder. It will keep watch on that folder and will add the paper. The moment you add that to that folder and add entry manually that is possible, but that is tedious way and I will not recommend that. Another very useful way, nowadays cloud storage is very much efficient. Internet connectivity is also efficient. Therefore, there is no need to keep papers on your drive. Therefore, you can go directly to the literature search. In the literature search, you can type keywords as you use keywords in PubMed. Here also you can add those keywords. I will add here keyword nitrogen, fixation, symbiotic and rhizobium. These keywords I have added and I will press enter to search internet or papers with these keywords and here the list is populated and these many papers are suggested to me by this. Here we will see how to correct these entries, how to fill this volume information which is not there, not populated automatically by Mendeley. Just scroll down and here this DUI is there. Just click here, look up. This entry got populated. We will do that for the another one. Scroll down or here you can go for that. Here also you can see and this paper will get opened. View PDF and all other things are there. We again go to Mendeley desktop. I will click here for lookup. I will click that and entry is got. That's it how to correct those entries. Now we will see how to add citations in your article. Wherever you want to add citation, just click there and go here in references and in references here this Mendeley tab is there. Click insert citation. Here you can add author name or you can go to Mendeley. I will click go to Mendeley and I will click this first one because I want to add it and here I will click cite. Import reference it is asking to. I will say OK. It will take some time to import reference. Zahran 1999 got added and I will click here to add second entry. I will click insert citation. Here I will click go to Mendeley and I will click on this and I will say cite. It has got added there. You may wonder why other entries disappeared from here because those entries were there on internet. Use this literature search. Here these entries are there. Now from these entries if I want to add another one, I will click here. I will say insert citation go to Mendeley and I will click this introduction to but information is not complete. Therefore I will go for this one and I will click lookup information will get filled and then I will say cite. It is asking me whether to import or not. I have allowed it to import this entry got added. Now I will show you how to get the reference list or bibliography. Wherever you want bibliography just click there mostly at the end of article. You need to have the bibliography. Therefore you click at the end of the article and you will click this insert bibliography insert bibliography. This bibliography will get you may need title for that. Therefore add title references and that's it. That's very easy. Now your bibliography is there and at this point you need to add another article. Here I will click because here I want need to add that citation. I will click here. I go to insert citation go to Mendeley and go to literature search because my papers are there in literature search. I will click this and information is not there again lookup is got populated. I will say cite it got added and earlier I had two papers. I had three papers. Now the fourth paper that Phillips got added here. It will keep on updating as you go on citing Mendeley will keep on updating the reference list at the end of the at the end of the article. If you want to change the citation style, then you can go here to change the citation style here click here. You can click anywhere here add select the citation style you want for your article. This is I will select this time nature and this citation style got changed here also. It may have changed. This is superscript now. This reference is listed as superscript cited as superscript and here this different style is there. That's it for Mendeley. If you learn Mendeley much of your headache of arranging your references or managing your citations will be solved. If you have liked this video, please click the like button. If you aren't subscribed yet to my channel, please subscribe to it. Your likes and subscribes will motivate me to make these videos further. Thank you.

This week: the arXiv Accessibility Forum

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Statistics > Methodology

Title: projective techniques in consumer research: a mixed methods-focused review and empirical reanalysis.

Abstract: This article gives an integrative review of research using projective methods in the consumer research domain. We give a general historical overview of the use of projective methods, both in psychology and in consumer research applications, and discuss the reliability and validity aspects and measurement for projective techniques. We review the literature on projective techniques in the areas of marketing, hospitality & tourism, and consumer & food science, with a mixed methods research focus on the interplay of qualitative and quantitative techniques. We review the use of several quantitative techniques used for structuring and analyzing projective data and run an empirical reanalysis of previously gathered data. We give recommendations for improved rigor and for potential future work involving mixed methods in projective techniques.

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Generate accurate APA citations for free

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• APA Style 7th edition
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APA Formatting and Citation (7th Ed.) | Generator, Template, Examples

Published on November 6, 2020 by Raimo Streefkerk . Revised on September 5, 2024.

The 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual provides guidelines for clear communication , citing sources , and formatting documents. This article focuses on paper formatting.

Generate accurate APA citations with Scribbr

Throughout your paper, you need to apply the following APA format guidelines:

• Set page margins to 1 inch on all sides.
• Double-space all text, including headings.
• Indent the first line of every paragraph 0.5 inches.
• Use an accessible font (e.g., Times New Roman 12pt., Arial 11pt., or Georgia 11pt.).
• Include a page number on every page.

Let an expert format your paper

Our APA formatting experts can help you to format your paper according to APA guidelines. They can help you with:

• Margins, line spacing, and indentation
• Font and headings
• Running head and page numbering

Table of contents

How to set up apa format (with template), apa alphabetization guidelines, apa format template [free download], page header, headings and subheadings, reference page, tables and figures, frequently asked questions about apa format.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

References are ordered alphabetically by the first author’s last name. If the author is unknown, order the reference entry by the first meaningful word of the title (ignoring articles: “the”, “a”, or “an”).

Why set up APA format from scratch if you can download Scribbr’s template for free?

Student papers and professional papers have slightly different guidelines regarding the title page, abstract, and running head. Our template is available in Word and Google Docs format for both versions.

• Student paper: Word | Google Docs
• Professional paper: Word | Google Docs

In an APA Style paper, every page has a page header. For student papers, the page header usually consists of just a page number in the page’s top-right corner. For professional papers intended for publication, it also includes a running head .

A running head is simply the paper’s title in all capital letters. It is left-aligned and can be up to 50 characters in length. Longer titles are abbreviated .

APA headings have five possible levels. Heading level 1 is used for main sections such as “ Methods ” or “ Results ”. Heading levels 2 to 5 are used for subheadings. Each heading level is formatted differently.

Want to know how many heading levels you should use, when to use which heading level, and how to set up heading styles in Word or Google Docs? Then check out our in-depth article on APA headings .

The title page is the first page of an APA Style paper. There are different guidelines for student and professional papers.

Both versions include the paper title and author’s name and affiliation. The student version includes the course number and name, instructor name, and due date of the assignment. The professional version includes an author note and running head .

For more information on writing a striking title, crediting multiple authors (with different affiliations), and writing the author note, check out our in-depth article on the APA title page .

The abstract is a 150–250 word summary of your paper. An abstract is usually required in professional papers, but it’s rare to include one in student papers (except for longer texts like theses and dissertations).

The abstract is placed on a separate page after the title page . At the top of the page, write the section label “Abstract” (bold and centered). The contents of the abstract appear directly under the label. Unlike regular paragraphs, the first line is not indented. Abstracts are usually written as a single paragraph without headings or blank lines.

Directly below the abstract, you may list three to five relevant keywords . On a new line, write the label “Keywords:” (italicized and indented), followed by the keywords in lowercase letters, separated by commas.

APA Style does not provide guidelines for formatting the table of contents . It’s also not a required paper element in either professional or student papers. If your instructor wants you to include a table of contents, it’s best to follow the general guidelines.

Place the table of contents on a separate page between the abstract and introduction. Write the section label “Contents” at the top (bold and centered), press “Enter” once, and list the important headings with corresponding page numbers.

The APA reference page is placed after the main body of your paper but before any appendices . Here you list all sources that you’ve cited in your paper (through APA in-text citations ). APA provides guidelines for formatting the references as well as the page itself.

Creating APA Style references

Play around with the Scribbr Citation Example Generator below to learn about the APA reference format of the most common source types or generate APA citations for free with Scribbr’s APA Citation Generator .

Formatting the reference page

Write the section label “References” at the top of a new page (bold and centered). Place the reference entries directly under the label in alphabetical order.

Finally, apply a hanging indent , meaning the first line of each reference is left-aligned, and all subsequent lines are indented 0.5 inches.

Tables and figures are presented in a similar format. They’re preceded by a number and title and followed by explanatory notes (if necessary).

Use bold styling for the word “Table” or “Figure” and the number, and place the title on a separate line directly below it (in italics and title case). Try to keep tables clean; don’t use any vertical lines, use as few horizontal lines as possible, and keep row and column labels concise.

Keep the design of figures as simple as possible. Include labels and a legend if needed, and only use color when necessary (not to make it look more appealing).

Check out our in-depth article about table and figure notes to learn when to use notes and how to format them.

The easiest way to set up APA format in Word is to download Scribbr’s free APA format template for student papers or professional papers.

Alternatively, you can watch Scribbr’s 5-minute step-by-step tutorial or check out our APA format guide with examples.

APA Style papers should be written in a font that is legible and widely accessible. For example:

• Times New Roman (12pt.)
• Arial (11pt.)
• Calibri (11pt.)
• Georgia (11pt.)

The same font and font size is used throughout the document, including the running head , page numbers, headings , and the reference page . Text in footnotes and figure images may be smaller and use single line spacing.

You need an APA in-text citation and reference entry . Each source type has its own format; for example, a webpage citation is different from a book citation .

Use Scribbr’s free APA Citation Generator to generate flawless citations in seconds or take a look at our APA citation examples .

Yes, page numbers are included on all pages, including the title page , table of contents , and reference page . Page numbers should be right-aligned in the page header.

To insert page numbers in Microsoft Word or Google Docs, click ‘Insert’ and then ‘Page number’.

APA format is widely used by professionals, researchers, and students in the social and behavioral sciences, including fields like education, psychology, and business.

Be sure to check the guidelines of your university or the journal you want to be published in to double-check which style you should be using.

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Streefkerk, R. (2024, September 05). APA Formatting and Citation (7th Ed.) | Generator, Template, Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved September 10, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/format/

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