Citation Styles - Rules and Formats
There are many different approaches to formatting citations - these are called citation styles.
The most common citation styles are:
- MLA - (Modern Language Association), used most in research in the arts and humanities
- APA - (American Psychological Association), used most in research in the sciences
- Chicago - also sometimes called Turabian (which is a more "simplified" version of the style), used most in research in history and humanities
- SBL - (Society of Biblical Literature), used most in religion and Bible research
Your professor may require you to use a certain citation style for their class assignments, but even if you get your pick of styles, you must stick with the rules of that style and cite whatever is needed! Every citation styles has its own rules about how to format citations depending on what source you're citing and what information you've obtained about that source; that's a lot to keep track of, but you can easily look up these rules in the style manuals. Some of these manuals the library has in print in the Reference section and some of these may be online (click through the tabs below to see more).
Resources for the Most Common Citation Styles
- Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)
Made by Purdue University, this guide shows you examples of every kind of citation in the three main citation styles - KnightCite
Calvin's own citation generator - basic tool that works for most source types in MLA, APA, and Chicago styles - Citation Machine
Free online citation generator - covers over 50 styles, including APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, and Harvard - Zbib
This free citation generator comes from Zotero (learn more about that citation software on the page in this guide for managing sources)
MLA Handbook by Call Number: LB2369 .M52 2021ISBN: 9781603293518Publication Date: 2021-04-06You can find this edition (MLA 9) and the previous MLA 8 in our Reference collection
- MLA Style Center: Works Cited Quick Guide
MLA's official online citation guide, giving overview and examples in this style
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by Call Number: BF76.7 .P83 2020ISBN: 9781433832154Publication Date: 2019-10-01The latest edition (#7) - available in the library reference section
- APA 7 Quick Reference Guide
This handout, made by the actual APA, walks you through the bibliography formatting for most common sources (7th edition style). Check out more helpful formatting aids on their website. - APA Crash Course, 7th ed.Uses a mixture of video, interactives, text, and assessment with immediate feedback to demonstrate bias-free language, formatting in-text citations, and creating reference list citations. Formatting a Word document is also included. (Created by Karli Mair, librarian at Valencia College).
The Chicago Manual of StyleCall Number: Ref Z253 .U69 2010
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Call Number: Ref LB2369 .T8 2013Turabian is a version of Chicago Style. (See the online guide linked below for more info.)
- Chicago Manual of Style Online
Online version of the Chicago style manual, with full details and examples, a quick guide, and video tutorials - Turabian Citation Guide
Brief overview of Turabian style, with helpful examples of the most commonly cited materials
The AMA Handbook of Business Writing by Call Number: Ref HF5726 .W55 2010Publication Date: 2010Guide to style, grammar, usage, punctuation, construction, and formatting AMA citations (most used for business research)
How to Write About Music: The RILM Manual of Style by Call Number: ML3797 .H69 2005Guide to writing and citing for music research from RILM (Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale)
Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers by Call Number: T11 .S386 2014ISBN: 9780226116495Publication Date: 2014-05-07Guide to CSE (Council of Science Editors) style, used most for natural and physical sciences
The ACS Style Guide by Call Number: Ref QD8.5 .A25 2006Guide for ACS (American Chemical Society), used in Chemistry research and writing
What are Citation Generators?
Citation Generators like Citation Machine, Easy Bib, and Calvin's own Knight Cite can be very handy online tools that create citations for you automatically - they give you a form to put in the info from your source, you select the style you want, and they format everything! Or at least, they usually do... the free citation tools online are often the most basic, and they may not display things correctly every time, especially for online sources like webpages, where you can't find a lot of information to generate the citation. If you use citation generators, make sure you double check that everything is correct by comparing to the rules in a citation manual or guide, or you can visit the Rhetoric Center for help going over your citations (read more on the Where Do I Get Help? page)