Skip to Main Content

Citation Styles

A comprehensive guide to citing in various citation styles, offering examples of citations as well as links to outside sources.

Glossary

Bibliography: A list of sources about a single topic. Each discipline has its own style for creating and formatting bibliographies.

Plagiarism: Using another's words, ideas, or other original work without giving proper credit (usually through citation).

Citation Manager: A web-based tool, such as Zotero, Mendeley or EndNote, that helps you manage citations, create bibliographies, and import references from databases. It can convert stored citations into formatted bibliographies. Formatting styles include APA, Chicago, and MLA as well as specialized formats for academic disciplines and publications.

Works Cited: A list of sources you have cited in your paper.

Ask a Librarian

Profile Photo
Kristin Woodward
She/Her/Hers
Contact:
P.O. Box 604,
Milwaukee WI 53201-0604
414-251-5103

Make an appointment!

Citation Styles Guide Menu

Citation Styles

This guide will provide you with the tools to properly cite your sources. The citation styles include: 

MLAAPAChicago

AMACSEASA

What is a citation?

A citation or reference is the information given in a bibliography or a database about a particular title, which often includes:

  • article title or chapter title
  • periodical title or book title
  • author(s) or editor(s)
  • place of publication
  • date of publication
  • publisher name
  • volume/issue (articles) or edition (books)
  • page range
  • medium of publication
  • electronic access (URL or DOI)
  • date accessed

Citations give credit to those whose ideas have contributed to your research and give your readers enough information to locate the sources you used. There are many ways to format citations. The style you choose depends on your field and the requirements set by your professor or publisher.

Finding Key Information

When you find an article online, you can often find all the citation information you need on the article's landing page. If you search for an article in a database, you can use the citation elements from the search results. Remember to always verify the database's citation with the information from the full-text or PDF of the article!

Article landing page:

A sample article landing page, with arrows pointing to the author, journal title, date, volume and issue numbers, page range, and article title.

Database search results:

A sample database search result, with arrows pointing to the author, journal title, date, volume and issue numbers, page range, and article title.

You can often find all the information you need for a journal article citation on the first page of that article. Occasionally, you may have to look at the title page of the journal to determine the date or volume number of that particular issue.

First page of a journal article, with arrows pointing to the journal title, article title, volume and issue numbers, date, and authors

When citing a book, you'll usually find the information you need on the title page and the back of the title page (title page verso).

Title page:

The title page of Practical Nursing Philosophy, with arrows pointing out the title, authors, publisher, and location of the book.

Title page verso:

Title page verso of Practical Nursing Philosophy, with arrows pointing to the date, publisher, and location of the book.

Reading Citations