What Is a Citation?
A citation is a documentation of a source. It includes important information about a source, such as the creator, the title and the publication date. This information is formatted and sequenced in a specific way according to a style guide.
Why Do You Need to Cite?
The practice of citing sources is important for several reasons:
- It gives credit to the person or organization who created the idea or work. Citations acknowledge that the ideas belong to someone else and helps you to avoid plagiarism. It also acknowledges the contributions of the author's intellectual and creative labor.
- To direct your readers to the specific source you used.
- To showcase the scope and depth of your research. Citations indicate which sources informed your research; They show who and what ideas you are conversing with and valuing.
When Do You Cite a Source?
You will generally need to include a citation for a source whenever you:
- You directly quote someone else's words. Make sure that you enclose the quote in quotation marks.
- You mention (paraphrase, evaluate, critique, etc.) someone’s ideas or work. Remember, you want to give credit and acknowledge the author's intellectual work; this includes their ideas, arguments, or other output and not just their direct words.
The Library's Guide to Citations and Bibliographies
- Citations and BibliographiesA guide to frequently-used style guides and to research tools, such as software, to help manage and auto-format your citations.
Citation Styles
What are citation styles?
Citation styles are the rules and guidelines for formatting citations. Different academic disciplines prefer different citation styles. Your instructor will generally specify the preferred citation style for your class. Full citation style manuals are available in the library and in some cases, online.
Frequently used citation styles:
APA (American Psychological Association)
Publication Manual 7th Edition of the American Psychological Association by In print at Snell Library (Boston)
Publication Manual 7th Edition of the American Psychological Association by In print at the F. W. Olin Library (Oakland)
Chicago
The Chicago Manual of Style by Online and in print at Snell Library (Boston)- The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition by Online and in print at the F. W. Olin Library (Oakland)
MLA (Modern Language Association)
MLA Handbook by Online and in print at Snell Library (Boston)
MLA Handbook by Online and in print at the F. W. Olin Library (Oakland)
Citation Management Software
Use citation management software to help you collect and manage your references, import citations for articles and books from databases and the library catalog, and auto-format citations and bibliographies in your papers. The Library supports four programs: EndNote, RefWorks, Mendeley, and Zotero.
- Comparison chart for citation management softwareCompares EndNote X9, RefWorks, Zotero, and Mendeley Desktop.
- EndNoteHelps you manage your bibliography and citations, and is installed onto the computer of your choice. You store your citations offline on your computer, and use a Microsoft Word or Mac Pages plugin to automatically create bibliographies.
- RefWorksHelps you manage your bibliography and citations, and can be accessed from any computer connected to the Internet. You store your citations on the RefWorks website, and use a Microsoft Word plugin to automatically create bibliographies.
- MendeleyFree software that will help you manage your research, annotate PDFs, and format citations. It has both a cloud-based and desktop component. There are also free mobile apps available for both iOS and Android.
- ZoteroA research toolbar for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari (or available as a standalone program) to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources. Save a citation of whatever you're viewing on the web to create your own collection of research in one personalized library.
