Citing where you have found your information is the most important and possibly the most tiresome part of putting together any research paper. You will have to do this many times during your academic career.

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What does it mean to cite a source?

Good question! As a college writer you have an academic responsibility to support your claims with evidence. This evidence will be gathered from articles, books, journals, websites, or films that were created by another person. You must make clear in your own essay where you found your information by citing the author and the source you borrowed from.

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Types of citations

An in-text citation lets the reader know which source and page you are quoting or paraphrasing from. In-text citations are included within sentences.

An end-text citation lets the reader know all of the information about the sources you cited in your essay. These are listed on a Works Cited or Reference page at the end of your essay.

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Citation styles

There are many different ways to cite your sources: MLA, APA, Chicago, the list goes on. You must follow one citation style throughout your paper. We use citation styles so that anyone reading your paper can quickly understand what type of source you read and efficiently find that source for themselves. 

If you are writing a paper for humanities class (english composition, literature, philosophy, foreign language, or art), you will use MLA citation. The MLA is a group of academics in the humanities known as the Modern Language Association.

If you are writing a paper for social sciences class (psychology, sociology, nursing, criminal justice, or education), you will use APA citation. The APA is a group of academics in the social sciences known as the American Psychological Association.

We will help you get started. Simply choose your style sheet below:

MLA Citation    APA Citation

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Putting your citation page together

Once you have created your citations, they must be listed in alphabetical order on your page. For each citation, the second and subsequent lines of the citation need to be indented. The page should be double-spaced.

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