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Citation Guide

Provides help in citing sources using the various citation styles required in courses. Includes APA, MLA, and other citation styles.

Introduction

This page provides links to style sheets for citation styles. Style sheets provide examples of how to cite print books and articles, e-books, articles in online databases, articles on the web, web pages, etc.

Your course instructors will typically require you to use a specific publication/citation style such as MLA, APA  or IEEE. Use the citation style recommended by your professor. If no style is recommended, choose one style and stick to it. Consistency is key, so don't mix styles in a bibliography.

Each style has its own rules, so you will need to know what those rules are. Visit our Citation Style guide for help using APA, MLA, AMA, IEEE, legal, scientific, and oral presentation citations and formats.

APA Citation Style Guides

APA Citation

The sources listed below provide assistance and examples of the APA style.

Best starting point on the Web for citation examples:

APA provides the following sources:

MLA Citation Style Guides

MLA Citation

The following sources provide assistance and examples of the Modern Language Association (MLA) style.

Best starting point on the Web for citation examples:

Additional MLA Guides (in print in library):


Additional citation examples on the web, if needed:

Citing Websites in MLA 9th and APA 7th Edition

Video length: 7:55

AMA Style

The AMA (American Medical Association) reference style was created by the editors of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). It specifies writing and citation styles for scholarly works in medicine. AMA style is internationally recognized and is used throughout disciplines in the health sciences.

AMA Style Video Tutorials

Video length: 2:16

AMA in Databases_Captions_English (United States)

Video length: 2:19

AMA journal citation_Captions_English (United States)

Video length: 1:32

AMA in-text citation_Captions_English (United States)

Legal Citation Guides

Legal citation

Web sites which provide assistance and examples of legal citation:

Scientific Style Guides: Biology , Chemistry, & Physics

Biology: CBE/CSE

The documentation style common in biology has been that of the CBE, the Council of Biology Editors. However, the Council of Biology Editors is now known as the Council of Science Editors (CSE). See the following sources for information about the CSE style.


Chemistry: ACS

Chemists typically use the documentation style of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The following sources provide help and examples.

 

Physics: AIP

The AIP (American Institute of Physics) documentation style is commonly used in physics. The following sources will help you use this style.

IEEE and Chicago Style Guides

IEEE and Chicago Styles

Citing Sources in Oral Presentatioins

Use verbal citations in your oral presentation to add credibility, show the research you've done, give credit to the original author, and demonstrate to your audience that your research is current and relevant.

Refer to the following tips from Spokane Falls Community College.

General Guidelines

Be brief, but provide enough information that your audience can track down the source.

Highlight what is most important criteria for that source.

Include who/what and when.

  • Author 
  • Author's credentials
  • Title of Work
  • Title of Publication
  • Date of work/publication/study

Use an introductory phrase for your verbal citation

According to Professor Jane Smith at Stanford University....(abbreviated verbal citation)

When I interviewed college instructor John Doe and observed his English 101 class...

Jason Hammersmith, a journalist with the Dallas Times, describes in his February 13, 2016 article.... (Full verbal citation)

Full vs. abbreviated verbal citations

Full verbal citations include all the information about the source thereby allowing the source to be easily found. 
ex. According to Harvard University professors, Dr. Smith and Dr. Jones research on this topic published in the Summer 2015 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine....

Abbreviated verbal citations include less information about the source, but still includes the most important aspects of that specific source. 
ex. A 2015 study in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that Harvard University professors....