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What Is a Citation?

In academic writing, you're asked to recognize those who've helped build your knowledge and ideas. This is done in the form of a citation and it tells your reader (usually your instructor) where you got your information.

It’s important to cite your sources every time you’re using ideas or information from someone else. This includes when you summarize information, paraphrase (put things into your own words), or use a direct quote.

Paraphrasing means you restate what an author said in your own words; summarizing is when you talk about the main concepts or points. A direct quote is when another person's exact words into your own writing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will always cite your sources twice. The first time is in the body of the paper with a short note called an in-text citation. In MLA style, it's the author’s last name and the page number of where you found the information.

Then you cite a second time at the end of your paper with a list of works cited. These citations have all the details your reader would need to get back to the original source like author name(s), article or book titles, dates, and a few other key elements. 

Why You Must Cite Your Sources

Citing sources adds credibility to your argument. Citing is proof that you did research and that your conclusions are based on reliable information.

It helps you avoid plagiarism by giving credit to the people whose ideas and research you used to make your argument.

Citing shares the sources you discovered by presenting information about your sources in a standardized format that any scholar can use to track down the very same sources you consulted.

Citing Sources

 

 

MLA Citation Style

 

MLA Style is a set of standards and guidelines to properly write and format papers. Developed by the Modern Language Association, MLA Style is the style typically used in the arts and humanities departments, including English and Literature classes.

MLA guides you on:

  1. the format & page layout of your paper
  2. stylistic technicalities in your writing (e.g. abbreviations, footnotes, quotations)
  3. how you cite other authors within the body of your paper
  4. how you compile a references page at the end of your paper

The MLA Style Center can show you how to do "In-text Citations" and how to create your "Works Cited" list.  The site also answers to common MLA questions and provides other great resources, including practice templates and sample papers.

QUICK LINKS

MLA Video Guides

 

In-text Citations Works Cited List

APA Citation Style

APA citation style is most frequently used by writers and students in: Social Sciences, such as Education, Psychology, Linguistics, Sociology, Engineering, Science and Economics.

Note: This book is available in the library. Below are resources for APA available online.

Citation Managers

A citation manager is a program used to store, organize, share, and output citations. Some citation managers have the added functionality of an academic social network. Once the citation information is stored in the citation manager, it can be output in many different styles, like MLA, APA, Chicago, or others. It saves the writer/researcher from having to type out the same citation and bibliography over and over again by hand.

Citation managers make it easy to:

  • Gather citations from databases and websites
  • Edit, organize, and search citations
  • Output citations in many formats (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.)

Citation managers integrate with word-processing programs for inputting in-text citations and generating the corresponding bibliographies.

A citation manager is a valuable time-saving tool for researchers and anyone writing a paper with cited references/bibliographies.

Temple supports EndNote/EndNote WebMendeley, and Zotero. In addition to these, there are many other citation managers available for free or for purchase.


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