Style Guides

Find the right citation guide for your research paper.

APA Style

APA (American Psychological Association) is the most commonly used style to cite sources in the social sciences. APA follows the author-date method of in-text citation. The author's last name and year of publication for the source should appear in the text (Jones, 2012), and a complete reference should appear in the Reference list at the end of the paper.

MLA Style

MLA (Modern Languages Association) is the most common citation style for writing in the humanities. MLA follows the author-page method of in-text citation. The author's last name and the page number from which the quotation or paraphrase was taken should appear in the text (Jones 24), and a complete reference should appear on the Works Cited page at the end of the paper.

Chicago Style

The Chicago Manual of Style is used in many disciplines that prefer using footnotes or endnotes to cite sources.

Citing in the health professions

Managing citations

Citation management software programs are efficient tools for gathering citations and creating bibliographies for your research papers. Here are some of the more popular online systems.

Avoiding plagiarism

When writing research papers you enter into an academic dialogue. The importance of understanding the responsibilities the academic community places on you as a writer cannot be overstated.