Citation Styles

Below is a broad overview of the layout of citations based on discipline. For more specific rules on citations for your discipline, please check the manuals for each style.

MLA

Reference List:

The MLA template for the core elements in a citation:

1. Author.
2. Title of Source.
3. Title of Container,
4. Contributor,
5. Version,
6. Number,
7. Publisher,
8. Publication Date,
9. Location.

Author. Title of Source. Title of Container, Contributor, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location.

Example:

1. Author: Sunstein, Bonnie.
2. Title of Source: “Tucking the Pigeons up Your Sleeve: Ten Personae Teach One Nonfiction Course.”
3. Title of Container: English Journal,
4. Contributor: [blank]
5. Version: [blank]
6. Number: vol. 99, no.4,
7. Publisher: [blank]
8. Publication Date: 01 March 2010,
9. Location: pp. 13-21

Sunstein, Bonnie. “Tucking the Pigeons up Your Sleeve: Ten Personae Teach One Nonfiction Course.” English Journal, vol. 99, no. 4, 01 March 2010, pp. 13-21.

In-Text Citation:

For in-text citations in MLA, the main template is:

(author surname page number).

For example:

(Sunstein 15)

But depending on the context of the writing, the surname or the page number may be the only thing needed. Please refer to the MLA Style Manual for more information on what to do for specific in-text citations.^[1]

APA

Reference List:

Author last name, first initial. (date). Title. Source, volume(number), pages. DOI or URL

Example:

Sunstein, B. (2010, March 1) Tucking the Pigeons up Your Sleeve: Ten Personae Teach One Nonfiction Course. English Journal, 99(4), 13-21. https://doi.org/10.58680/ej20109978

In-Text Citations:

Parenthetical citation: (author last name, year)

Example: (Sunstein, 2010)

Use a comma to set off the year in parenthetical in-text citations

For narrative citations in which the author names are brought up earlier in the sentence, all that is needed is the year of the text.

Narrative citation: (year)

Example: (2010)

Italicize: Periodical volume numbers in reference lists

Do not italicize: Punctuation between elements of a reference list entry (e.g., the comma after a volume and issue number, the period after a book title)^[2]

Chicago

Chicago uses two types of citations: notes and bibliography, and author-date.

Notes and bibliography

This type of citation uses superscript numbers in the text that correspond to a footnote or endnote. These notes can also then be found in a bibliography list at the end of the book.

The format of the footnote or endnote may look like this:

Book:

1. author name, title (publisher, year), page(s) referenced.

Example:

1. Susan Orlean, The Library Book (Simon and Schuster, 2019), 7.

Article:

1. author name, “title,” source vol, no. (year): page(s) referenced.

Example:

1. Bonnie Sunstein, “Tucking the Pigeons up Your Sleeve: Ten Personae Teach One Nonfiction Course,” English Journal 99, no. 4 (2010): 15.

For the bibliography listing at the end of the work, the author’s name will be changed to last name, first name, with the bibliography entries listed alphabetically by author last name.

The format of the bibliography entry may look like this:

Book:

Orlean, Susan. The Library Book. Simon and Schuster, 2019.

Article:

Sunstein, Bonnie. “Tucking the Pigeons up Your Sleeve: Ten Personae Teach One Nonfiction Course,” English Journal 99, no. 4 (2010): 13-21.

Author-date

Similar to other styles, this type of citation uses in-text citations that correspond with a bibliography list at the end of the book.

Example of in-text citation: (Sunstein 2010).

Examples of reference list entries:

Book:

Orlean, Susan. 2019. The Library Book. Simon and Schuster.

Article:

Sunstein, Bonnie. 2010. “Tucking the Pigeons up Your Sleeve: Ten Personae Teach One Nonfiction Course.” English Journal 99 (4): 13-21.

^[3]