Citations

To give credit to your sources, you should use a recognized citation style. The most commonly used styles are APA (American Psychological Association) and MLA (Modern Language Association). Whether professors tell you which style to use or let you choose, they will expect you to stick to one style consistently within your paper.

Each style includes rules for how to arrange details like author, title, publication date, retrieval date, etc. These details may vary depending on what you are citing:
  • Books
  • Articles from print journals or newspapers
  • Articles obtained from databases like Academic Search Premier or PsycINFO
  • Web sites
  • Email communication

You can find rules for proper citation in style guides available online or at the Libraries, or you can ask a librarian for help.

Here are some links that may be useful to you as you polish your papers:

Writer's Handbook at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Landmark's Citation Machine

University of Wyoming Writing Center

Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL)

Duke University Citation Guide

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