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Citation Style Guide

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Why Cite?

  • Citations let your professor, or anyone else who reads your work, find the items you used in your research. The key to a successful citation is providing all the information needed for your reader to find the book, article, or other item you are citing.
  • Citing builds your credibility and shows that your ideas are shared by other experts in the field. Citing scholarly, peer-reviewed sources lends extra credibility to your work.
  • Citation avoids plagiarism! Citing your sources properly gives credit to the original author. 

Citation Styles

Citation Styles:

The main styles used at AU are as follows - if you need to use another style click here. Those with large research projects should strongly consider a citation manager like Zotero or Endnote. Students can use citation generators like BibMe, Citation Machine, or EasyBib, but you must ALWAYS check your citations using the resources below:

  • Easy Writer (in the reference collection, PE1408 .L852 2016) by Andrea Lunsford has excellent guides and sample citations/papers for MLA, APA, and Chicago/Turabian Styles.

APA (American Psychological Association) - used in the social sciences

  • Recommended - Purdue OWL APA Style - Includes a tutorial for citing in APA style as well as sample papers and bibliographies.
  • Recommended - Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 6th ed. - (Call number: Reference PN 147.A4 2010.)
  • Frequently Asked Questions about APA Style - Official APA style site containing tutorials and other FAQ's.
  • APA style blog - Need help citing a odd source or a sample paper? Check out the official APA style blog.

Chicago Manual of Style - used in the humanites and social sciences 

  • Recommended - Chicago Manual of Style - Official online version of the Chicago manual 17th edition.
  • Recommended - Purdue OWL Chicago Style - Includes a tutorial for citing in Chicago style as well as sample papers and bibliographies.
  • Chicago Manual of Style 16th edition - (Call number: Reference Z253 .U69 2010.)

MLA (Modern Language Association) - used in literature and the humanities 

  • Recommended - Purdue OWL MLA Style - Includes a tutorial for citing in MLA style as well as sample papers and bibliographies.
  • Recommended - The MLA Style Center - Official MLA style site, containing tutorials and other FAQ's. Updated for MLA 8th edition.
  • MLA Handbook - 8th ed. - (Call number: Reference LB2369 .M52 2016.)

Turabian Style - a variation of the Chicago style used in many disciplines in humanities, social sciences and natural sciences​

  • Recommended - Turabian Quick Guide - From the publisher, University of Chicago Press.
  • Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations 8th ed. - (Call number: Reference LB 2369 .T8 2013.)