Holman Library

Cite Your Sources

What is a Citation?

• A short description of the source for your information.
• Contains information on who wrote it, what it is (title), and where you found it (book or other resource title).
• Used to give credit to the sources you use in your writing.
• Provides information to help someone find the source.
• Usually uses either APA or MLA style
• Can be created using a Citation Generator
• Annotated Bibliographies include a paragraph describing each article or book in the reference list
• Government resources may have special formats

What's MLA and APA?

• MLA is Modern Language Association - decides the formats used for citations in English and similar subjects.
• APA is American Psychological Association - decides the formats used for citations in Psychology, other Social Sciences and some sciences.

Citation generators use your information to create properly formatted citations:

• NoodleBib Citation Generator - creates work cited or bibliography pages or individual citations
• SourceAid Free Online Citation Generator
• Citation Machine Free Online Citation Generator

More about using MLA formats:

• Research and Documentation Online (Diana Hacker)
• MLA Citation Guide Ohio State University
• The Writing Center University of Wisconsin - Madison
• Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue

More about using APA formats:

• Research and Documentation Online (Diana Hacker)
• Electronic References (American Psychological Association)
• The Writing Center (University of Wisconsin - Madison)
• Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University

Annotated Bibliographies can be done in either APA or MLA style:

• Creating Annotated Bibliographies - Trinity University
• How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography - Cornell University
• Annotated Bibliographies Research Guide - University of Central Florida

Government resources have special citation formats:

• Citing Government Resources (MLA) University of Nevada, Reno Libraries
• DocCite citation generator for Government Documents Arizona State University
• Brief Guide to citing Government Publications University of Memphis
• Citing Government Resources Columbia University Libraries

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