how to include references in essay

How to Reference in an Essay (9 Strategies of Top Students)

Are you feeling overwhelmed by referencing?

When you’re first asked to do referencing in an essay it can be hard to get your head around it. If it’s been a while since you were first taught how to reference, it can be intimidating to ask again how to do it!

I have so many students who consistently lose marks just because they didn’t get referencing right! They’re either embarrassed to ask for extra help or too lazy to learn how to solve the issues.

So, here’s a post that will help you solve the issues on your own.

Already think you’re good at referencing? No worries. This post goes through some surprising and advanced strategies for anyone to improve no matter what level you are at!

In this post I’m going to show you exactly how to reference in an essay. I’ll explain why we do it and I’ll show you 9 actionable tips on getting referencing right that I’m sure you will not have heard anywhere else!

The post is split into three parts:

• What is a Reference and What is a Citation?
• Why Reference? (4 Things you Should Know)
• How to Reference (9 Strategies of Top Students)

If you think you’ve already got a good understanding of the basics, you can jump to our 9 Advanced Strategies section.

Part 1: What is a Reference and What is a Citation?

What is a citation.

An in-text mention of your source. A citation is a short mention of the source you got the information from, usually in the middle or end of a sentence in the body of your paragraph. It is usually abbreviated so as not to distract the reader too much from your own writing. Here’s two examples of citations. The first is in APA format. The second is in MLA format:

• APA: Archaeological records trace the original human being to equatorial Africa about 250,000–350,000 years ago (Schlebusch & Jakobsson, 2018) .
• MLA: Archaeological records trace the original human being to equatorial Africa about 250,000–350,000 years ago (Schlebusch and Jakobsson 1) .

In APA format, you’ve got the authors and year of publication listed. In MLA format, you’ve got the authors and page number listed. If you keep reading, I’ll give some more tips on formatting further down in this article.

And a Reference is:

What is a Reference?

A reference is the full details of a source that you list at the end of the article. For every citation (see above) there needs to be a corresponding reference at the end of the essay showing more details about that source. The idea is that the reader can see the source in-text (i.e. they can look at the citation) and if they want more information they can jump to the end of the page and find out exactly how to go about finding the source.

Here’s how you would go about referencing the Schlebusch and Jakobsson source in a list at the end of the essay. Again, I will show you how to do it in APA and MLA formats:

• APA: Schlebusch, C. & Jakobsson, M. (2018). Tales of Human Migration, Admixture, and Selection in Africa. Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics , 11 (33), 1–24.
• MLA: Schlebusch, Carina and Mattias Jakobsson. “Tales of Human Migration, Admixture, and Selection in Africa.” Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics , vol. 11, no. 33, 2018, pp. 1–24.

In strategy 1 below I’ll show you the easiest and fool proof way to write these references perfectly every time.

One last quick note: sometimes we say ‘reference’ when we mean ‘citation’. That’s pretty normal. Just roll with the punches. It’s usually pretty easy to pick up on what our teacher means regardless of whether they use the word ‘reference’ or ‘citation’.

Part 2: Why Reference in an Essay? (4 Things you Should Know)

Referencing in an essay is important. By the time you start doing 200-level courses, you probably won’t pass the course unless you reference appropriately. So, the biggest answer to ‘why reference?’ is simple: Because you Have To!

Okay let’s be serious though … here’s the four top ‘real’ reasons to reference:

1. Referencing shows you Got an Expert’s Opinion

You can’t just write an essay on what you think you know. This is a huge mistake of beginning students. Instead this is what you need to do:

Top Tip: Essays at university are supposed to show off that you’ve learned new information by reading the opinions of experts.

Every time you place a citation in your paragraph, you’re showing that the information you’re presenting in that paragraph was provided to you by an expert. In other words, it means you consulted an expert’s opinion to build your knowledge.

If you have citations throughout the essay with links to a variety of different expert opinions, you’ll show your marker that you did actually genuinely look at what the experts said with an open mind and considered their ideas.

This will help you to grow your grades.

2. Referencing shows you read your Assigned Readings

Your teacher will most likely give you scholarly journal articles or book chapters to read for homework between classes. You might have even talked about those assigned readings in your seminars and tutorials.

Great! The assigned readings are very important to you.

You should definitely cite the assigned readings relevant to your essay topic in your evaluative essay (unless your teacher tells you not to). Why? I’ll explain below.

• Firstly, the assigned readings were selected by your teacher because your teacher (you know, the person who’s going to mark your essay) believes they’re the best quality articles on the topic. Translation: your teacher gave you the best source you’re going to find. Make sure you use it!
• Secondly, by citing the assigned readings you are showing your teacher that you have been paying attention throughout the course. You are showing your teacher that you have done your homework, read those assigned readings and paid attention to them. When my students submit an essay that has references to websites, blogs, wikis and magazines I get very frustrated. Why would you cite low quality non-expert sources like websites when I gave you the expert’s article!? Really, it frustrates me so, so much.

So, cite the assigned readings to show your teacher you read the scholarly articles your teacher gave to you. It’ll help you grow your marks.

3. Referencing deepens your Knowledge

Okay, so you understand that you need to use referencing to show you got experts’ opinions on the topic.

But there’s more to it than that. There’s actually a real benefit for your learning.

If you force yourself to cite two expert sources per paragraph, you’re actually forcing yourself to get two separate pieces of expert knowledge. This will deepen your knowledge!

So, don’t treat referencing like a vanity exercise to help you gain more marks. Actually view it as an opportunity to develop deeper understandings of the topic!

When you read expert sources, aim to pick up on some new gems of knowledge that you can discuss in your essays. Some things you should look out for when finding sources to reference:

• Examples that link ideas to real life. Do the experts provide real-life examples that you can mention in your essay?
• Facts and figures. Usually experts have conducted research on a topic and provide you with facts and figures from their research. Use those facts and figures to deepen your essay!
• Short Quotes. Did your source say something in a really interesting, concise or surprising way? Great! You can quote that source in your essay .
• New Perspectives. Your source might give you another perspective, angle or piece of information that you can add to your paragraph so that it’s a deep, detailed and interesting paragraph.

So, the reason we ask you to reference is at the end of the day because it’s good for you: it helps you learn!

4. Referencing backs up your Claims

You might think you already know a ton of information about the topic and be ready to share your mountains of knowledge with your teacher. Great!

So, should you still reference?

Yes. Definitely.

You need to show that you’re not the only person with your opinion. You need to ‘stand on the shoulders of giants.’ Show what other sources have said about your points to prove that experts agree with you.

You should be saying: this is my opinion and it’s based on facts, expert opinions and deep, close scrutiny of all the arguments that exist out there .

If you make a claim that no one else has made, your teacher is going to be like “Have you even been reading the evidence on this topic?” The answer, if there are no citations is likely: No. You haven’t.

Even if you totally disagree with the experts, you still need to say what their opinions are! You’ll need to say: “This is the experts’ opinions. And this is why I disagree.”

So, yes, you need to reference to back up every claim. Try to reference twice in every paragraph to achieve this.

Part 3: Strategies for How to Reference in an Essay (9 Strategies of Top Students)

Let’s get going with our top strategies for how to reference in an essay! These are strategies that you probably haven’t heard elsewhere. They work for everyone – from beginner to advanced! Let’s get started:

1. Print out your Reference Style Cheat Sheet

Referencing is hard and very specific. You need to know where to place your italics, where the commas go and whether to use an initial for full name for an author.

There are so many details to get right.

And here’s the bad news: The automated referencing apps and websites nearly always get it wrong! They tell you they can generate the citation for you. The fact of the matter is: they can’t!

Here’s the best way to get referencing right: Download a referencing cheat sheet and have it by your side while writing your essay.

Your assignment outline should tell you what type of referencing you should use. Different styles include: APA Style, MLA Style, Chicago Style, Harvard Style, Vancouver Style … and many more!

You need to find out which style you need to use and download your cheat sheet. You can jump onto google to find a cheat sheet by typing in the google bar:

Download a pdf version of the referencing style cheat sheet, print it out, and place it on your pinboard or by your side when writing your essay.

2. Only cite Experts

There are good and bad sources to cite in an essay.

You should only cite sources written, critiqued and edited by experts. This shows that you have got the skill of finding information that is authoritative. You haven’t just used information that any old person popped up on their blog. You haven’t just gotten information from your local newspaper. Instead, you got information from the person who is an absolute expert on the topic.

Here’s an infographic listing sources that you should and shouldn’t cite. Feel free to share this infographic on social media, with your teachers and your friends:

3. Always use Google Scholar

Always. Use. Google. Scholar.

Ten years ago students only had their online university search database to find articles. Those university databases suck. They rarely find the best quality sources and there’s always a big mix of completely irrelevant sources mixed in there.

Google Scholar is better at finding the sources you want. That’s because it looks through the whole article abstract and analyses it to see if it’s relevant to your search keywords. By contrast, most university search databases rely only on the titles of articles.

Use the power of the best quality search engine in the world to find scholarly sources .

Note: Google and Google Scholar are different search engines.

To use Google Scholar, go to: https://scholar.google.com

Then, search on google scholar using keywords. I’m going to search keywords for an essay on the topic: “What are the traits of a good nurse?”

If you really like the idea of that first source, I recommend copying the title and trying your University online search database. Your university may give you free access.

4. Cite at least 50% sources you found on your Own Research

Okay, so I’ve told you that you should cite both assigned readings and readings you find from Google Scholar.

Here’s the ideal mix of assigned sources and sources that you found yourself: 50/50.

Your teacher will want to see that you can use both assigned readings and do your own additional research to write a top essay . This shows you’ve got great research skills but also pay attention to what is provided in class.

I recommend that you start with the assigned readings and try to get as much information out of them, then find your own additional sources beyond that using Google Scholar.

So, if your essay has 10 citations, a good mix is 5 assigned readings and 5 readings you found by yourself.

5. Cite Newer Sources

As a general rule, the newer the source the better .

The best rule of thumb that most teachers follow is that you should aim to mostly cite sources from the past 10 years . I usually accept sources from the past 15 years when marking essays.

However, sometimes you have a really great source that’s 20, 30 or 40 years old. You should only cite these sources if they’re what we call ‘seminal texts’. A seminal text is one that was written by an absolute giant in your field and revolutionized the subject.

Here’s some examples of seminal authors whose old articles you would be able to cite despite the fact that they’re old:

• Education: Vygotsky, Friere, Piaget
• Sociology: Weber, Marx, C. Wright Mills
• Psychology: Freud, Rogers, Jung

Even if I cite seminal authors, I always aim for at least 80% of my sources to have been written in the past 10 years.

6. Reference twice per Paragraph

How much should you reference?

Here’s a good strategy: Provide two citations in every paragraph in the body of the essay.

It’s not compulsory to reference in the introduction and conclusion . However, in all the other paragraphs, aim for two citations.

Let’s go over the key strategies for achieving this:

• These two citations should be to different sources, not the same sources twice;
• Two citations per paragraph shows your points are backed up by not one, but two expert sources;
• Place one citation in the first half of the paragraph and one in the second half. This will indicate to your marker that all the points in the whole paragraph are backed up by your citations.

This is a good rule of thumb for you when you’re not sure when and how often to reference. When you get more confident with your referencing, you can mix this up a little.

7. The sum total of your sources should be minimum 1 per 150 words

You can, of course, cite one source more than once throughout the essay. You might cite the same source in the second, fourth and fifth paragraphs. That’s okay.

But, you don’t want your whole essay to be based on a narrow range of sources. You want your marker to see that you have consulted multiple sources to get a wide range of information on the topic. Your marker wants to know that you’ve seen a range of different opinions when coming to your conclusions.

When you get to the end of your essay, check to see how many sources are listed in the end-text reference list. A good rule of thumb is 1 source listed in the reference list per 150 words. Here’s how that breaks down by essay size:

• 1500 word essay: 10 sources (or more) listed in the reference list
• 2000 word essay: 13 sources (or more) listed in the reference list
• 3000 word essay: 20 sources (or more) listed in the reference list
• 5000 word essay: 33 sources (or more) listed in the reference list

8. Instantly improve your Reference List with these Three Tips

Here’s two things you can do to instantly improve your reference list. It takes less than 20 seconds and gives your reference list a strong professional finish:

a) Ensure the font size and style are the same

You will usually find that your whole reference list ends up being in different font sizes and styles. This is because you tend to copy and paste the titles and names in the citations from other sources. If you submit the reference list with font sizes and styles that are not the same as the rest of the essay, the piece looks really unprofessional.

So, quickly highlight the whole reference list and change its font to the same font size and style as the rest of your essay. The screencast at the end of Step 8 walks you through this if you need a hand!

b) List your sources in alphabetical order.

Nearly every referencing style insists that references be listed in alphabetical order. It’s a simple thing to do before submitting and makes the piece look far more professional.

If you’re using Microsoft Word, simply highlight your whole reference list and click the A>Z button in the toolbar. If you can’t see it, you need to be under the ‘home’ tab (circled below):

You’ve probably never heard of a hanging indent. It’s a style where the second line of the reference list is indented further from the left-hand side of the page than the first line. It’s a strategy that’s usually used in reference lists provided in professional publications.

If you use the hanging indent, your reference list will look far more professional.

Here’s a quick video of me doing it for you:

9. Do one special edit especially for Referencing Style

The top students edit their essays three to five times spaced out over a week or more before submitting. One of those edits should be specifically for ensuring your reference list adheres to the referencing style that your teacher requires.

To do this, I recommend you get that cheat sheet printout that I mentioned in Step 1 and have it by your side while you read through the piece. Pay special attention to the use of commas, capital letters, brackets and page numbers for all citations. Also pay attention to the reference list: correct formatting of the reference list can be the difference between getting the top mark in the class and the fifth mark in the class. At the higher end of the marking range, things get competitive and formatting of the reference list counts.

A Quick Summary of the 9 Top Strategies…

Follow the rules of your referencing style guide (and that cheat sheet I recommended!) and use the top 9 tips above to improve your referencing and get top marks. Not only will your referencing look more professional, you’ll probably increase the quality of the content of your piece as well when you follow these tips!

Here’s a final summary of the 9 top tips:

Strategies for How to Reference in an Essay (9 Strategies of Top Students)

• Print out your Reference Style Cheat Sheet
• Only cite Experts
• Always use Google Scholar
• Cite at least 50% sources you found on your Own Research
• Cite Newer Sources
• Reference twice per Paragraph
• The sum total of your sources should be minimum 1 per 150 words
• Instantly improve your Reference List with these Three Tips
• Do one special edit especially for Referencing Style

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 15 Self-Actualization Examples (Maslow's Hierarchy)
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ Forest Schools Philosophy & Curriculum, Explained!
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ Montessori's 4 Planes of Development, Explained!
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ Montessori vs Reggio Emilia vs Steiner-Waldorf vs Froebel

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How to Write an Academic Essay with References and Citations

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Written by  Scribendi

If you're wondering how to write an academic essay with references, look no further. In this article, we'll discuss how to use in-text citations and references, including how to cite a website, how to cite a book, and how to cite a Tweet, according to various style guides.

You might need to cite sources when writing a paper that references other sources. For example, when writing an essay, you may use information from other works, such as books, articles, or websites. You must then inform readers where this information came from. Failure to do so, even accidentally, is plagiarism—passing off another person's work as your own.

You can avoid plagiarism and show readers where to find information by using citations and references. 

Citations tell readers where a piece of information came from. They take the form of footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical elements, depending on your style guide. In-text citations are usually placed at the end of a sentence containing the relevant information. 

A reference list , bibliography, or works cited list at the end of a text provides additional details about these cited sources. This list includes enough publication information allowing readers to look up these sources themselves.

Referencing is important for more than simply avoiding plagiarism. Referring to a trustworthy source shows that the information is reliable. Referring to reliable information can also support your major points and back up your argument. 

Learning how to write an academic essay with references and how to use in-text citations will allow you to cite authors who have made similar arguments. This helps show that your argument is objective and not entirely based on personal biases.

How Do You Determine Which Style Guide to Use?

Often, a professor will assign a style guide. The purpose of a style guide is to provide writers with formatting instructions. If your professor has not assigned a style guide, they should still be able to recommend one. 

If you are entirely free to choose, pick one that aligns with your field (for example, APA is frequently used for scientific writing). 

Some of the most common style guides are as follows:

AP style for journalism

Chicago style for publishing

APA style for scholarly writing (commonly used in scientific fields)

MLA style for scholarly citations (commonly used in English literature fields)

Some journals have their own style guides, so if you plan to publish, check which guide your target journal uses. You can do this by locating your target journal's website and searching for author guidelines.

How Do You Pick Your Sources?

When learning how to write an academic essay with references, you must identify reliable sources that support your argument. 

As you read, think critically and evaluate sources for:

Objectivity

Keep detailed notes on the sources so that you can easily find them again, if needed.

Tip: Record these notes in the format of your style guide—your reference list will then be ready to go.

How to Use In-Text Citations in MLA

An in-text citation in MLA includes the author's last name and the relevant page number: 

(Author 123)

How to Cite a Website in MLA

Here's how to cite a website in MLA:

Author's last name, First name. "Title of page."

Website. Website Publisher, date. Web. Date

retrieved. <URL>

With information from a real website, this looks like:

Morris, Nancy. "How to Cite a Tweet in APA,

Chicago, and MLA." Scribendi. Scribendi

Inc., n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2021.

<https://www.scribendi.com/academy/articles/how_to_cite_a_website.en.html>

How Do You Cite a Tweet in MLA ?

MLA uses the full text of a short Tweet (under 140 characters) as its title. Longer Tweets can be shortened using ellipses. 

MLA Tweet references should be formatted as follows:

@twitterhandle (Author Name). "Text of Tweet." Twitter, Date Month, Year, time of

publication, URL.

With information from an actual Tweet, this looks like:

@neiltyson (Neil deGrasse Tyson). "You can't use reason to convince anyone out of an

argument that they didn't use reason to get into." Twitter, 29 Sept. 2020, 10:15 p.m.,

https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/1311127369785192449 .

How to Cite a Book in MLA

Here's how to cite a book in MLA:

Author's last name, First name. Book Title. Publisher, Year.

With publication information from a real book, this looks like:

Montgomery, L.M. Rainbow Valley. Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1919.

How to Cite a Chapter in a Book in MLA

Author's last name, First name. "Title of Chapter." Book Title , edited by Editor Name,

Publisher, Year, pp. page range.

With publication information from an actual book, this looks like:

Ezell, Margaret J.M. "The Social Author: Manuscript Culture, Writers, and Readers." The

Broadview Reader in Book History , edited by Michelle Levy and Tom Mole, Broadview

Press, 2015,pp. 375–394.

How to  Cite a Paraphrase in MLA

You can cite a paraphrase in MLA exactly the same way as you would cite a direct quotation. 

Make sure to include the author's name (either in the text or in the parenthetical citation) and the relevant page number.

How to Use In-Text Citations in APA

In APA, in-text citations include the author's last name and the year of publication; a page number is included only if a direct quotation is used: 

(Author, 2021, p. 123)

How to Cite a Website in APA

Here's how to cite a website in APA:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year, Month. date of publication). Title of page. https://URL

Morris, N. (n.d.). How to cite a Tweet in APA, Chicago, and MLA. 

https://www.scribendi.com/academy/articles/how_to_cite_a_website.en.html       

Tip: Learn more about how to write an academic essay with  references to websites .

How Do You  Cite a Tweet in APA ?

APA refers to Tweets using their first 20 words. 

Tweet references should be formatted as follows:

Author, A. A. [@twitterhandle). (Year, Month. date of publication). First 20 words of the

Tweet. [Tweet] Twitter. URL

When we input information from a real Tweet, this looks like:

deGrasse Tyson, N. [@neiltyson]. (2020, Sept. 29). You can't use reason to convince anyone

out of an argument that they didn't use reason to get into. [Tweet] Twitter.

https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/1311127369785192449

How to Cite a Book in APA

Here's how to cite a book in APA:   

Author, A. A. (Year). Book title. Publisher.

For a real book, this looks like:

Montgomery, L. M. (1919). Rainbow valley.

Frederick A. Stokes Company.

How to Cite a Chapter in a Book in APA

Author, A. A. (Year). Chapter title. In Editor Name (Ed.), Book Title (pp. page range).

With information from a real book, this looks like:

Ezell, M. J. M. (2014). The social author: Manuscript culture, writers, and readers. In

Michelle Levy and Tom Mole (Eds.), The Broadview Reader in Book History (pp. 375–

394). Broadview Press.

Knowing how to cite a book and how to cite a chapter in a book correctly will take you a long way in creating an effective reference list.

How to Cite a Paraphrase in APA

You can cite a paraphrase in APA the same way as you would cite a direct quotation, including the author's name and year of publication. 

In APA, you may also choose to pinpoint the page from which the information is taken.

Referencing is an essential part of academic integrity. Learning how to write an academic essay with references and how to use in-text citations shows readers that you did your research and helps them locate your sources.

Learning how to cite a website, how to cite a book, and how to cite a paraphrase can also help you avoid plagiarism —an academic offense with serious consequences for your education or professional reputation.

Scribendi can help format your citations or review your whole paper with our Academic Editing services .

Take Your Essay from Good to Great

Hire an expert academic editor , or get a free sample, about the author.

Scribendi's in-house editors work with writers from all over the globe to perfect their writing. They know that no piece of writing is complete without a professional edit, and they love to see a good piece of writing transformed into a great one. Scribendi's in-house editors are unrivaled in both experience and education, having collectively edited millions of words and obtained numerous degrees. They love consuming caffeinated beverages, reading books of various genres, and relaxing in quiet, dimly lit spaces.

Have You Read?

"The Complete Beginner's Guide to Academic Writing"

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How to Reference Essays

Last Updated: January 8, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Alexander Peterman, MA . Alexander Peterman is a Private Tutor in Florida. He received his MA in Education from the University of Florida in 2017. There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 371,984 times.

When you begin writing a research essay, you must take into account the format of your writing and reference pages. There are several reference styles that may be assigned to you, including MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychological Association), and Chicago. Each one has its own set of rules. There's no need to familiarize yourself with all 3 unless you have to, but you do need to learn at least one if you’re in any field involving academic writing. Here are summaries of each style to help you start your essay on the right track.

Referencing Essays Templates

• You will need a citation directly after every sentence (or group of sentences if you're citing the same source in multiple consecutive sentences) containing information you didn't think of yourself. These include: paraphrases, facts, statistics, quotes, and examples.
• An in-text citation using MLA will simply have the author last name (or title if no author) followed by the page number. No comma between author and page number. For example: (Richards 456) Richards is the author last name, and 456 is the page number.
• If you have an author name (or title, if no author) but no page number, simply use author last name (or title).

• The easiest way to keep track of MLA citations while doing research is to copy and paste copyright information into a word processing document as you go, or to write it down in a notebook.
• Things to include for any source are author(s), date published, publisher, page number, volume and issue number, website, date accessed, anything that appears on the copyright page or indicates how to find it again. [2] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source

• As an example, the format for a standard book citation using MLA style is as follows: Last name of author, First name. Title of Book. City published: Publisher Name, Year published. Source Medium.
• An MLA website citation looks like the following. If there's no author listed, begin citation with the name of the page: Last name, first name. "Page Title." Website Title. Publisher. Date published. Source Medium. Date accessed.
• An MLA scholarly article citation looks like the following: Last name, First name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal . Volume.Issue (Year): page numbers. Source Medium.
• Write the title of the main work (book, magazine, journal, website, etc.) in italics, or underline if you’re writing references by hand.
• Chapter or article titles should be in quotation marks.

• If there is no author listed, as is common on websites, simply skip the author’s name and begin the entry with the title of the work.
• Alphabetize by the first letter that appears in the entry, whether it has an author name or not.

• The formatting should be in Times New Roman font, size 12, with “Works Cited” centered at the top of a new page.
• Each entry should have hanging indent, meaning all lines below the first line are indented by half an inch.
• Make sure there is a period after each section of the citations. A period should always end the citation.

• Place a parenthetical citation at the end of every sentence (or group of sentences if you're using the same source for multiple consecutive sentences) containing information you didn't know before doing research.
• An in-text citation using APA will simply have the author last name (or title if no author) followed by the year it was published. No comma between name and year. For example: (Richards 2005) Richards is the author last name, and 2005 is the year.
• If you have an author name (or title if no author) but no page number, simply use author last name (or title). This is common when citing websites.
• APA document formatting is very important. APA papers are divided up into 4 sections: the title page, the abstract, the main body, and the references page. The citations of a research paper using APA appear in the References section, the last portion of an APA document. [7] X Research source

• To form APA reference page citations, you will need such information as author name(s), date published, website URL, date you accessed the website, title of work, and so on. [8] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source

• For example, the format for an APA reference of a scholarly journal article is as follows: Author last name, First initial. (Year published). Article or chapter title. Journal or book title, Issue number , page number range. [10] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source
• The format for an APA book reference looks like: Last name, First name. (Year.) Title of Book: Capital letter also for subtitle . Location: Publisher.
• The format for an APA website reference looks like: Author, A.A. First name, & Author, B.B. (Date published.) Title of article. In Title of webpage or larger document or book (chapter or section number). Retrieved from URL address

• Capitalize the author's last name and first initial, followed by a period.
• Only capitalize the first word of a journal article title, unless the title contains a proper noun (called sentence case). Titles of books should preserve the published capitalization.
• Capitalize the city of publication, and use correct state abbreviations for states. Also capitalize the name of the publisher and end the reference with a period.
• The title of larger works, whether a book, journal, website, or magazine, is in italics (or underlined if handwriting), as is the issue number that appears right after the title. Titles for shorter works like articles and chapters should not have any indicative punctuation in an APA entry. [12] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source
• A period should end all citations.

Using Chicago Manual of Style

• For Notes and Bibliography, you will use a superscript at the instance of each quote in the text with a corresponding footnote at the end of the page. All footnotes are compiled into endnotes at the end of the work, on the bibliography page. [14] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source
• For Author Date, you will use parenthetical in-text citations that include author last name and year published, using no punctuation between name and year. The full version of each parenthetical citation is listed alphabetically on the references page. For example: (Simon 2011) Simon is the author last name, and 2011 is the year.
• You will need a citation directly after every sentence (or group of sentences if you're using the same source for multiple consecutive sentences) containing information you didn't think of yourself. These include: paraphrases, facts, statistics, quotes, and examples.

• If using a book, write down all pertinent information found on the copyright page, including the name of the publisher and the city and year of publication.
• For other sources, look for this information near the title of the piece you’re looking at. Publication date is often at the bottom of webpages.

• Title your references page “Bibliography” centered at the top of the page. Leave 2 blank lines between this title and the first entry, and one blank line between entries.
• Notes and Bibliography style uses footnotes for page endings and endnotes for chapter endings. The bibliography page will be an alphabetized list of all sources in hanging indent.
• An example format for a book is as follows: Last name, First name. Book Title . City: Publisher, Year.
• An example format for a chapter in a print scholarly journal is as follows: Author last name, first name. "Title of Chapter or Article." Book or journal Title Issue Number (Year): Page number range. (For an online scholarly journal article, tack on the following at the end: Date accessed. URL address.)
• When there is no known author, the entry should begin with the title of the document, whether it's a webpage, chapter, article, and so on.
• When there are multiple authors, the first listed author appears last name, first name, so that the citation is alphabetized by this author's last name. Subsequent authors are listed by first name, like this: Alcott, Louisa May, Charles Dickens, and Elizabeth Gaskell.
• Always end a citation with a period.

• When using Author Date style, title your references page “References” centered at the top of the page. Leave 2 blank lines between this title and the first entry, and 1 blank line between entries.
• Author Date style bibliographies should be organized alphabetically by last name (or by title if no author) in hanging indent.
• An example format for a book is as follows: Last name, first name. Year. Book Title . City Published: Publisher.
• An example format for a chapter in a print scholarly journal is as follows: Author last name, first name. Year. "Title of Chapter or Article." Book or journal title issue number: page numbers. (for an online scholarly journal article tack this onto the end: Date accessed. URL address.)
• An example format for a website is as follows: Name of Website. Year. "Page Title." Date last modified. Date accessed. URL address.

Expert Q&A

• You don't have to write each bibliography or reference entry on your own. You can download citation management software like Endnote [17] X Research source (purchase required on this one), Zotero [18] X Research source (it's free), or use websites like http://www.bibme.org/ and http://www.easybib.com/ . Select the name of your style manual before you begin creating citations. Copy and paste the citation into your bibliography or references list. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If you are assigned to write a paper or other written document in one of these styles, you need to purchase the style manual. It will contain nearly every instance not only of source citation, but paper formatting as well as grammar and punctuation that is unique to that style. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• This article only lists how to cite research for each style manual. Each style has its own instructions for setting up the format of the essay, including heading, spacing, margins, font, and so on. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_in_text_citations_the_basics.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_books.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_text_citations_author_authors.html
• ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_electronic_sources.html
• ↑ https://libguides.jcu.edu.au/apa/reference-list
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_author_authors.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_basic_rules.html
• ↑ https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/chicago_manual_of_style_17th_edition.html
• ↑ http://guides.nyu.edu/c.php?g=276562&p=1844734
• ↑ http://endnote.com
• ↑ https://www.zotero.org

About This Article

To reference an essay using MLA style, add a citation after any information you found through a source, like facts or quotes. When citing the reference, include the author’s name and the page number you pulled the information from in parenthesis, like “(Richards 456).” Once you’ve finished your essay, add a Words Cited page with all of the information you used to research your essay, like books or articles. To create a Works Cited page, list the sources in alphabetical order using the author’s last name, and include additional information, like year published and the medium. For more tips from our Writing reviewer, like how to reference an essay using APA style, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Writing Guides

How to Cite an Essay

Pages: 16 (5096 words)

Subject: Education

Topic: Academic Writing

Document Type: Writing Guide

Document: #M26213155

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Table of Contents

Introduction, why cite an essay, preventing plagiarism, when to cite sources in an essay, how to cite sources in an essay, before you begin, should i use a citation generator, what is a citation, difference between citation and reference, difference between references, bibliography, and works cited, what can i cite as a reference, how do i know what format to use.

• Let’s Get Started on Citing Sources!

Preparing a References Page in APA Format

How to use apa format to cite sources in the essay, how to use mla format to cite sources, how to cite sources in chicago style.

References, citations, bibliographies: what does it all mean and why is it important?

This article will show you how to cite sources in an essay you write for any level of school or for work.

If you are confused or frustrated by the process of citing sources in an essay, term paper, research paper, book report, or dissertation, you are not alone. Citing sources within the body of an essay and in the bibliography can be cumbersome and tedious.

This is certainly not the best part of writing an essay or term paper, which is why you stumbled upon this article. So let’s deal with it. Let’s deal with the drudgery of how to cite sources in an essay so that it can at least flow faster for you the next time you write.

If you are new to academic writing, the concept of citing sources will also be new to you. Citing sources is one of the most important aspects of academic writing. The reason why you need to cite sources is that if you do not, you could get accused of plagiarism .

Plagiarism is a serious accusation and a serious offence. Just one incident of plagiarism can ruin your entire academic career. Plagiarism is a form of theft, if you copy and paste words directly from another source into your own without citing the source.

If you reword what you take from another source without giving credit properly, then you are still plagiarizing. Plagiarizing is unethical and dishonest, and it will get you into trouble.

Also, did you know how easy it is to get caught plagiarizing?

Using simple and sometimes free online tools , teachers at all levels of school can quickly run your essay or term paper through plagiarism detection software .

Don’t take any chances. Follow the tips in this handy guide and you will be well on your way to protecting yourself from any accusations of plagiarism. Learning how to cite sources in an essay properly is the best way to prevent plagiarism in your work.

Students new to essay and term paper writing often become confused about when they need to cite sources.

As you get used to the process of academic writing, it will become easier to tell the difference between what can be considered “common knowledge,” and what you need to cite. In the meantime, cite anything that did not come from your own head or consult a writing tutor or instructor with any specific questions about what content you need to cite.

Another source of confusion for students is the fact that there are many different ways to cite sources in an essay. In fact, some would argue that there are too many ways to cite sources in an essay.

Some teachers will ask you to cite sources in APA format . APA stands for the American Psychological Association. However, the APA style of citations is used beyond the field of psychology. It is one of the most popular forms of citation used in academic writing.

If you were asked to use APA style to format your paper and your citations, this guide will help you.

Likewise, you may be asked to use the MLA format. MLA stands for the Modern Language Association, and is used more for literature papers.

Unfortunately, citation formats change regularly—sometimes every single year.

Keeping up to date with the most recent minutia dictating how to cite sources with precision requires that you refer directly to the official style guide of organizations like the American Psychological Association or the Modern Language Association .

You can use an online citation generator , but you do not have to in order to prepare correct citations in your essay or term paper.

It can be risky to rely too much on online citation generators. Why?

For one, they are automated, and may not give you the correct results. The best way to cite your sources is to do it yourself.

Second, the online citation generators may not be able to handle different types of sources such as multimedia files. This guide will be better for showing you how to cite sources.

Finally, it is a good idea to practice citing sources yourself. Relying too much on the citation generators prevents you from becoming faster at inserting the in-text citations and formatting the bibliography pages. If you intend to continue your academic journey through undergraduate and graduate school, it is a good idea to get used to writing your own in-text citations and bibliography pages.

A citation is a reference to the original source, placed within your document—your own essay or term paper.

Did you ever read a book that had footnotes at the bottom of the page, or endnotes at the end of the chapter or book? Those are citations.

Similarly, you will come across citations within the body of the text. Known as in-text citations, these usually come in the form of parentheses. Therefore, these types of in-text citations are called “ parenthetical citations ,” and are commonly used in academic writing.

APA and MLA, two of the most common citation formats in academic writing, use parenthetical citations.

In some citation formatting systems, such as Chicago or Turabian style, you can use parentheticals but more often you will be asked to use footnotes . Footnotes are tedious to format using software like MS Word, but over time you can get the hang of it.

A citation and a reference are basically the same thing. It might help to think of the citation as the specific block of text or information being cited, and the reference as the original source.

Any in-text citation or footnote will refer to, or point to, an entry in your bibliography page. The bibliography page The bibliography page may be called many things including the the References page (when using APA format) or the Works Cited page (when using MLA format). The Chicago style calls it the Bibliography.

Remember, you need both. You need an in-text citation somewhere indicating where you got the information in a quote, a sentence, paragraph, or block of text. That in-text citation points to an entry in your final list of references: also known as the bibliography or works cited page.

The in-text citation may be a “parenthetical,” which uses parentheses (Like This, 2019, p. 5).

Or, as with Chicago format, your in-text citation may be in the form of a footnote. [1]

Nothing. These are all different words and phrases that mean the same thing: a comprehensive list of all the sources (references, such as books or journal articles) that you used to write your paper.

The only difference between a References page, a Bibliography page, and a Works Cited page is the style or format you have been asked to use.

If you use APA format, then your list of references will be called the References page.

If you use MLA format, your list will be called Works Cited.

If you use Chicago/Turabian, your list will be called a Bibliography.

The term “bibliography” specifically means a list of books, which is why the terms “References,” or “Works Cited” may be more accurate in some cases. If you are writing an art history or music paper, for instance, you will include in your list of references the works of art or music discussed in the body of your essay.

You can cite anything used to write your paper, even an interview with a person, an email, or a photograph.

In fact, you must cite all your sources properly if you want to avoid plagiarism and get the outcome you want in terms of grades or accolades.

The only way to really know for sure what format to use is to ask your teacher or professor. If you are writing for a professional publication such as a journal or magazine, it is better to contact the editorial staff.

If you have been asked to choose your own citation format based on personal preferences, then you have a choice. Use whichever formatting makes sense to you, or the one you feel most comfortable using.

Generally, APA format is used in the social sciences, including economics, business, and nursing.

MLA format is used most in language arts, including literature but also theater and other humanities subjects.

The Chicago/Turabian style is sometimes used in history and military papers.

International students may also be familiar with other citation formats, such as the Harvard style.

Just in case you thought it wasn’t complicated enough, some specific subjects or academic fields have their own citation format. For example, the American Sociological Association has its own style called, naturally, the ASA style of formatting.

This guide will provide the tools you can use for most of the popular citation formats.

Let’s Get Started on Citing Sources!

The best way to begin citing sources in your essay or term paper is to first compile the fill list of all the sources you used, from advertisements to interviews, from songs to magazine articles, from academic journal articles to books.

With few exceptions, you will be listing your final bibliography/works cited/references page in alphabetical order.

If you are only interested in avoiding accusations of plagiarism, you should list all sources even if you did not include an in-text citation directly pointing to that source. However, if you are using APA or MLA formats, you should only list the sources that are paired with at least one in-text citation.

List all sources in alphabetical order.

Start with the author’s last name. If there is no author, or if the author is an organization, start with the first “real” word in the title.

Example of alphabetical list:

“Associated Things.”

The Association of Underachievers

Biggles, M.

In APA format, only the last name is spelled out in full. Initials are used for the first name and any other names.

            Example: Reagan, N.

            Example: Hermann, N.T.

If there is more than one author, continue to use the same format. If there are two authors, use the ampersand “&” symbol.

            Example: Yoora, L. & Leslie, C.

 If there are between 3 and 7 authors, separate the names with a comma. Use an ampersand before the final name, as follows:

Example: Reagan, N., Tumba, W., & Darwin, C.

Example: Reagan, N, Tumba, W., Darwin, C., Yoora, L, & Leslie, C.

If there are 7 or more authors, list the first six, followed by an ellipsis (...), followed by the last author’s name.

Example: Reagan, N, Tumba, W.L., Darwin, C., Yoora, L, Leslie, C., Hermann, N.T,...Oolong, T.

When the author is an organization, do not reverse the order of words. Just list the full name of the organization.

Example: National Institutes of Health

Example: American Psychological Association

After the author’s name(s), insert the publication date.

Boone, D. (1910).

Fuggles, M. & Warlock, D. (2018).

The Pine Cone Society (2011).

If you have more than one source by the same author, then sort those entries by date. You will list the earliest year of publication first.

            Example:

Lawrence, T. (2008).

Lawrence, T. (2011).

Lawrence, T. (2013).

If there are two or more sources by the same author and published in the same year, then organize them alphabetically according to the title, but also letter each entry as follows:

Lawrence, T. (2008a).

Lawrence, T. (2008b).

This way, when you cite the source in the body of the text using an in-text parenthetical citation, you are pointing to the correct source!

Now, write the title of the article, book, or whatever the source may be.

The most common sources you will use in academic essays include journal articles (articles published in scholarly journals), and books.

In some cases, you will cite websites, art, music, film, an interview, or multimedia.

The title of the article, book, or work of art will be printed only with the first letter capitalized. With a book, you will use italics. With an article, you will not.

Cromwell, O. (2019). The rain falls in Africa.

Austen, J. (2017). Another book about relationships.

If the article is published online, just write the title as if it were a journal article

However, if it is a PDF file, print [PDF] after the title:

Oliver, C. (2008). How to feed a cat [PDF file].

Now list the name of the journal (for a journal article), or the name of the book (for when you cite only one chapter in the book).

Please note that in APA format, quotation marks are not used for article titles. You only capitalize the first word in the title of both journal articles and books. However, the titles of academic journals, newspapers, and other parent publications are written with each word capitalized.

Cromwell, O. (2019). The rain falls in Africa. Weather Patterns in Human History.

Oliver, C. (2007). How to feed a cat what it really wants. American Journal of Pets and Veterinary Science.

For books, now you would list the place of publication and the name of the publisher.

Austen, J. (2017). Another book about relationships. New York, NY: Donder House.

Camus, Y. (2011). The way the wind blows. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

• Articles in a Scholarly Journal

When you use APA format to list articles in a scholarly journal in the references list, you also need to include the volume and the issue number.

The format is generally: Title of Periodical, volume # (issue #),

Peterson, O. (1995). Biochemical reactions in intestinal flora. Journal of Gastrointestinal Diseases, 12 (5): 9-18.

How to Cite Different Types of References in APA Format

When citing material from a website, use the author’s name or the organization as the author, followed by the title. Include the URL of the website by indicating “Retrieved from:”

UNSW (2020). Citing different sources. Retrieved from: https://student.unsw.edu.au/citing-different-sources-0

When citing a film, use the name of the producer in what would otherwise be the author field. The reference list entry should look like this:

Producer, P. P. (Producer), & Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of publication).  Title of motion picture  [Motion picture]. Country of origin: Studio or distributor.

Television is cited differently from films, with the writer and director being given credit:

Writer, W. W. (Writer), & Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of broadcast or copyright). Title of broadcast [ Television broadcast or Television series ]. In P. Producer (Producer). City, state of origin: Studio or distributor.

The References page is only part of the work. Now, you also have to include an in-text citation in APA format.

Any time you quote directly, paraphrase, or otherwise refer to a source in your references page, insert an in-text citation.

The way you will insert an in-text citation can vary. Also, the way you format the in-text citation depends on factors such as the number of authors or whether there is an author at all.

Here are some examples of using in-text citations in APA format:

Paraphrase of a Single Author (Book or Article)

There are several ways to use an internal citation for paraphrased material. If you are paraphrasing or simply referencing without a direct quotation, you do not need to include a page number.

The rice that grows on the southern slopes of Mount Agung is generally of better quality than the rice that grows on the northern slopes (Wayan, 1995).

According to Wayan (1995), the rice that grows on the southern slopes of Mount Agung is generally of better quality than the rice that grows on the northern slopes.

Wayan (1995) claims the rice that grows on the southern slopes of Mount Agung is generally of better quality than the rice that grows on the northern slopes.

Note how all of the above accomplish the exact same goal. The only difference is how you structure the paraphrased material to incorporate the parenthetical in-text citation.

It may be a good idea to practice all the ways you can include an in-text citation to make your paper easier to read and also more sophisticated.

Quote from a Single Author (Book or Article)

Unlike paraphrased citations in the body of your essay, you do need to include the exact page number when quoting directly from the text.

According to the Elementary School Teacher Association (2018), “teachers are among the most underappreciated, overworked, and underpaid Americans,” (p. 1).

“Teachers are among the most underappreciated, overworked, and underpaid Americans,” (Elementary School Teacher Association, 2018, p. 1).

In-Text Citations of Multi-Author Sources in APA Format

• When there are two authors:

According to Simon & Garfunkel (2018), the sound of silence is louder than most people think.

• When there are between 3 and 5 authors:

Use the full word “and” if you weave the citation into the sentence as follows:

According to Crosby, Stills, and Nash (2018), you need to love the one you are with before you can become truly happy.

Use an “&” sign if you place the citation separately, as such:

You should “love the one you’re with,” (Crosby, Stills & Nash, 2018, p. 5).

When there are 6 or more authors:

Use only the first author’s last name, and then write “et al.” Note that “et” does not have a period after it, but “al.” does because “al.” is an abbreviation of a Latin word. The phrase “et al.” just means “and the others.”

“When a tree falls in Brooklyn, everyone hears it,” (Pensky, et al., 2011, p. 15).

Pensky et al. (2011) claims that everyone hears it when trees fall in Brooklyn.

Special Types of Citations in APA Format

• Personal Communication

Personal communications, such as personal emails or telephone conversations exchanged between you and a source, do need to be cited in the body of your essay. However, personal communications do not need to be given a separate entry in the list of references.

The format for personal communications in-text citations is as follows:

"The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire!” (F. Wiggins, personal communication, January 12, 2020).

F. Wiggins claimed that the roof was on fire but that we did not need any water (personal communication, January 12, 2020).

For more detailed instructions on how to use APA format to cite sources in your essay or term paper, refer to the Purdue University Online Writing Lab ( OWL )  or better yet, use the most recent version of the official APA style guide.

The Modern Language Association (MLA) format has become increasingly popular.

The Works Cited Page

In MLA format, your list of references is called the Works Cited page. It includes every source you cited in the body of your essay or term paper.

List all the sources in alphabetical order starting with the author’s last name. If there is no author, then file according to the title.

For example:

Allen, Wrigley. Once Upon a Time.

Bunny, Bugs. Too Many Carrots.

Mouse, Mickey. The Dark Side of Disney.

MLA has recently changed their rules for how to format sources in the Works Cited page. Please consult the most recent MLA guide and your instructor about the preferred format for your essay.

For more detailed instructions on how to use MLA format to cite sources in your essay or term paper, refer to the Purdue University Online Writing Lab ( OWL ) for assistance or to the most recent version of the official MLA style guide.

How to Cite Books in MLA Format for the Works Cited Page

MLA uses a simple format for book entries in the Works Cited page.

You may choose to include the city of publication if the book shows that there may be many different editions.

• Books with One Author

Dyer, Ulrich. Growing Up in Wayne’s Shadow. Hill House, 2015.

Dyer, Ulrich. Growing Up in Wayne’s Shadow. New York: Hill House, 2015.

Books with an organization as the author are also listed alphabetically within the same list:

Ulrich, John. Nine Miles to Freedom. Kansas State University Press, 1995.

United States Army. Combat Manual. Department of Defense, 2014.

Likewise, books without an author are listed alphabetically according to the title. Ignore articles like “The” and conjunctions like “And” when alphebetizing.

• Books with Two Authors

When you cite books with more than one author, the first author’s name is printed last name, first name. However, all subsequent names are written in the standard fashion with first name and last name.

Allman, Greg, and Duane Allman. Brothers Eating Peaches. Sony Books, 2000.

• Books with Three or More Authors

When you cite books with three or more authors, you only need to list the first author’s name, followed by “et al.”

Oppenheimer, Greg, et al. A Story of Life. University of Florida Press, 2017.

• More Than One Work By the Same Author
• When you have more than one work by the same author, only list the author’s name once.
• In lieu of writing the author’s name again, use “---.” Instead for all subsequent entries.
• List all the author’s books in alphabetical order by title.

Inniskillin, David. Gender, Race, and Politics in Sub-Saharan Africa. Penguin, 2013.

---. Historical Divisions in Social Class Among the Bantu People. Harvard University Press, 2001.

• Translated Editions

There are two different ways to cite translated editions in MLA format in the Works Cited page.

When it is important that you distinguish one translated edition from another, you may list the translator’s name instead of the author’s name in the Works Cited page and also in the in-text citations.

If, however, you just want to indicate which edition of a translated work you cited in the body of the text, still use the author’s name in the Works Cited list and also in the in-text citations.

When the translation is important:

Jones, Mitchell, translator. The Odyssey. By Homer. Penguin, 1995.

When the translation is not important:

Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Mitchell Jones, Penguin, 1995.

How to Format Journal or Magazine Articles in MLA Works Cited Page

Blakely, Anna. “At the Forefront of the Revolution: Voices of Women in Colonial America.” Journal of American History, vol 29, no. 2, 2014, pp. 4-19.

• Electronic/Online Sources

There are many different digital or electronic sources you can cite in your essay and include in the Works Cited page.

For most electronic sources, you can use the following format, which is similar to any other source cited with the inclusion of the date of access and the DOI or other permalink.

Author. “Title.” Title of Website. Publication date. DOI/URL. Accessed on date.

Mendeley. “APA Format Citation Guide.” 2019, https://www.mendeley.com/guides/apa-citation-guide. Accessed January 21, 2020.

The Purdue OWL Family of Sites . The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl. Accessed 23 Apr. 2008.

Citing Interviews in the Works Cited Page

You do need to include an entry for any in-person or remote interview (such as by phone or email) in the Works Cited page, when using MLA format.

The Works Cited entry for interviews is as follows:

Dormund, Pauline. Personal interview. 13 Jan 2020.

Films in the Works Cited Page

In the Works Cited page, list the film by title.

The Matrix. Directed by Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski (as the Wachowski Brothers), Warner Brothers, 1999.

MLA In-Text Citations (Parentheticals)

When you quote or paraphrase from a source in MLA format within the body of your essay or term paper, you must provide a proper citation.

The citation always includes the page number, whether or not you used a direct quote.

Because of the way it appears in the body of your text, the MLA in-text citation format is also called “author-page style.”

There are many different ways to format in-text citations using MLA format.

Yeleni found Shangri-La “full of wonder” but “bereft of soul,” (23).

Some poets describe Shangri-La as “full of wonder” (Yeleni 23).

• Two Authors

Yeleni and Davis deride the way some scholars obfuscate the truth when discussing paleontology (213).

Some scholars obfuscate the truth when discussing paleontology, according to Yeleni and Davis (213).

 Some scholars obfuscate the truth when discussing paleontology (Yeleni and Davis 213).

• More than Two Authors

Gardener, Chauncy, et al. “How to Grow Turnips All Year Round.” American Agriculture Quarterly, vol. 5, no. 7, pp. 112-115.

• Multiple Works by the Same Author

When citing multiple works by the same author, distinguish them within the body of the text by their title. Use a short form of the title when the title is long.

If the title is a journal article, use quotation marks. If the title is a book, use italics.

Cumberbund claims that all is still quiet on the Western front (“A Lens to the Past” 49).

Partridge argues in favor of a “strict, unyielding policy,” in order to drive prices down ( How to Lead 17).

The Chicago style frequently uses footnotes (or endnotes) in addition to a “Bibliography” page at the end of your essay or term paper. Unfortunately, the way the footnotes are formatted is completely different from the way the bibliography entries are formatted when using Chicago Style. When using Chicago style, allow quite a bit of time to prepare the footnotes in the proper formatting.

In Chicago style, it is acceptable to use parenthetical in-text citations instead of footnotes or endnotes; if you prefer to use in-text citations, consult with your instructor, reader, or editor.

Because it shares almost all elements in common with Kate L. Turabian's  Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, the terms Chicago style and Turabian style are used interchangeably.

For the latest updates on formatting your papers in Chicago Style, please refer directly to the Chicago Manual of Style Online guide.

The references list in Chicago/Turabian style is called a Bibliography page.

It is easier to demonstrate how to cite sources in Chicago Style by showing how the footnote/endnote appears alongside its corresponding entry in the Bibliography.

• Book by One Author

Bibliography Entry

Saline, Jack. A Small Book About Salt. New York: Penguin, 2008.

Footnote/Endnote

Even if you do not provide a direct quote, do include a page number in the footnote or endnote.

First Footnote/Endnote

For the first footnote or endnote, you write the long form version of the citation. For any additional footnotes or endnotes referring to the same source, use the abbreviated or shortened version.

Jack Saline, A Small Book About Salt. (New York: Penguin, 2008), 213.

Subsequent/Abbreviated Footnote/Endnote

Jack Saline, A Small Book About Salt, 214.

• Book by Two or More Authors

Saline, Jack and Timothy Johnson. A Big Book About Salt. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2011.

Jack Saline and Timothy Johnson. A Big Book About Salt. (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2011), 98.

Subsequent (Abbreviated) Footnotes/Endnotes

Saline and Johnson, A Big Book About Salt, 99.

• Book Chapter

Sometimes you will need to cite a specific chapter in a book. This is especially true for when the book is a compilation of essays, in which each chapter has a different author. However, you could also cite only one book chapter if that is the only chapter you referred to in your essay. In this case, you use the following note and bibliography format.

Marsdale, Henry Lane. “The Spirit of Financial Transactions.” In  The Ethical Approach to Business , edited by John D’Angelo, 159-178. Minneapolis: Money Press, 2016.

Henry Lane Marsdale, “The Spirit of Financial Transactions,” in The Ethical Approach to Business, ed. John D. Angelo (Minneapolis: Money Press, 2016), 161.

Henry Lane Marsdale, “The Spirit of Financial Transactions,” 165.

• Journal Articles

Use the following format for the references to articles published in periodicals such as academic journals. The first number after the name of the journal is usually volume number.

Sometimes instead of a volume number, there will only be the edition or season of publication.

Bibliography

Sondheim, Tracey. “Live and Let Live”  Modern Bioethics 12, no. 3 (April 2019): 165–76.

Sondheim, Tracey. “Live and Let Live”  Modern Bioethics 12(Spring 2019): 165–76.

Tracey Sondheim, “Live and Let Live,” Modern Bioethics 12, no. 3 (April 2019): 166.

Tracey Sondheim, “Live and Let Live,” 166.

Salesforce. “About Us.” Last modified April 21, 2019. https://www.salesforce.org/about-us/

Salesforce, “About Us,” Last modified April 21, 2019, https://www.salesforce.org/about-us/

Subsequent Footnote/Endnote

Salesforce, “About Us.”

In addition to the above three citation styles described in this article, there are several more in use. The style guide you need depends directly on where you go to school or what you are studying. Occasionally, you will be asked to choose the citation style that you prefer. In those cases, pick the one you feel most comfortable with and remain consistent throughout your essay.

When it comes time for you to insert your citations and the references page and you still need help, call on the services of a writing tutor who can help you edit your work and make sure it gets the grade you deserve. Once you master the different citation styles, you will find they are not that hard. It can be time consuming to pay attention to all the different details in punctuation and formatting, which is why many people still prefer to use a citation generator.

Remember also that there are many odd sources you may need to cite if you are writing essays, term papers, or dissertations in various fields of interest. If you have to cite a photograph printed in a newspaper, for instance, or an image you found online, you will need to delve a little deeper into the ways for formatting the citation according to the style guidelines. However, the vast majority of sources you cite will be books, journal articles, and websites.  This article provided you with the foundational understanding in APA, MLA, and Chicago style formatting for the most popular academic sources used in essays and term papers

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Reference Examples

More than 100 reference examples and their corresponding in-text citations are presented in the seventh edition Publication Manual . Examples of the most common works that writers cite are provided on this page; additional examples are available in the Publication Manual .

To find the reference example you need, first select a category (e.g., periodicals) and then choose the appropriate type of work (e.g., journal article ) and follow the relevant example.

When selecting a category, use the webpages and websites category only when a work does not fit better within another category. For example, a report from a government website would use the reports category, whereas a page on a government website that is not a report or other work would use the webpages and websites category.

Also note that print and electronic references are largely the same. For example, to cite both print books and ebooks, use the books and reference works category and then choose the appropriate type of work (i.e., book ) and follow the relevant example (e.g., whole authored book ).

Examples on these pages illustrate the details of reference formats. We make every attempt to show examples that are in keeping with APA Style’s guiding principles of inclusivity and bias-free language. These examples are presented out of context only to demonstrate formatting issues (e.g., which elements to italicize, where punctuation is needed, placement of parentheses). References, including these examples, are not inherently endorsements for the ideas or content of the works themselves. An author may cite a work to support a statement or an idea, to critique that work, or for many other reasons. For more examples, see our sample papers .

Reference examples are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Chapter 10 and the Concise Guide Chapter 10

Related handouts

• Common Reference Examples Guide (PDF, 147KB)
• Reference Quick Guide (PDF, 225KB)

Textual Works

Textual works are covered in Sections 10.1–10.8 of the Publication Manual . The most common categories and examples are presented here. For the reviews of other works category, see Section 10.7.

• Journal Article References
• Magazine Article References
• Newspaper Article References
• Blog Post and Blog Comment References
• UpToDate Article References
• Book/Ebook References
• Diagnostic Manual References
• Children’s Book or Other Illustrated Book References
• Classroom Course Pack Material References
• Religious Work References
• Chapter in an Edited Book/Ebook References
• Dictionary Entry References
• Wikipedia Entry References
• Report by a Government Agency References
• Report with Individual Authors References
• Brochure References
• Ethics Code References
• Fact Sheet References
• ISO Standard References
• Press Release References
• White Paper References
• Conference Presentation References
• Conference Proceeding References
• Published Dissertation or Thesis References
• Unpublished Dissertation or Thesis References
• ERIC Database References
• Preprint Article References

Data and Assessments

Data sets are covered in Section 10.9 of the Publication Manual . For the software and tests categories, see Sections 10.10 and 10.11.

• Data Set References
• Toolbox References

Audiovisual Media

Audiovisual media are covered in Sections 10.12–10.14 of the Publication Manual . The most common examples are presented together here. In the manual, these examples and more are separated into categories for audiovisual, audio, and visual media.

• Artwork References
• Clip Art or Stock Image References
• Film and Television References
• Musical Score References
• Online Course or MOOC References
• Podcast References
• PowerPoint Slide or Lecture Note References
• Radio Broadcast References
• TED Talk References
• Transcript of an Audiovisual Work References
• YouTube Video References

Online Media

Online media are covered in Sections 10.15 and 10.16 of the Publication Manual . Please note that blog posts are part of the periodicals category.

• Facebook References
• Instagram References
• LinkedIn References
• Online Forum (e.g., Reddit) References
• TikTok References
• X References
• Webpage on a Website References
• Clinical Practice References
• Open Educational Resource References
• Whole Website References

Referencing your work: Using sources in writing

• Getting started
• Using sources in writing
• Harvard Hull
• Footnotes Hull
• Referencing videos

Jump to content on this page:

“A fundamental part of academic study is reading the work of other people and using their ideas to develop your own.” Jeanne Godfrey, How to use your reading in your essays

Whilst advice on referencing is often about the mechanics of a particular style, it is more important to learn how to integrate those references into your writing. This is achieved by a mixture of quoting, paraphrasing and summarising the work of the authors you read or the official documents you use. This page has sections looking at what each of these mean; and when and how you should use each technique.

• Paraphrasing
• Summarising

What is a quotation?

A quotation is an unchanged piece of text from a source that you use in your own writing. They are extremely useful in particular situations (see below) but should be used sparingly as they can break up the flow of your writing and do not show the same level of understanding that putting something into your own words (paraphrasing) can. 

When should you use a quotation?

Although quotations should be used sparingly, they can be the best option in a number of situations. These include when:

• You are providing a  definition of something:

Braden and Hortin (1982:41) defined visual literacy as “the ability to understand and use images, including the ability to think, learn, and express oneself in terms of images”. 

• The authors have expressed themselves in an unusual or notable way:

"The library is dead, long live the library!" (Ross & Sennyey, 2008).

Seglem and Witte (2009) suggested that this was an even more important benefit than the widening of literacy in general, especially for students who have been previously “burned by print” (page 224).

• The words have historic or other significance (and you would not want to change them):

In his influential 1852 discourses The Idea of University, John Henry Newman wrote that during the acquisition of a university education a graduate would develop a lifelong mindset “of which the attributes are, freedom, equitableness, calmness, moderation and wisdom” (Newman, 1931:101).  

• You are quoting single words or short phrases where a paraphrase would be unhelpful:

Said redefined the idea of "orientalism", using it to refer to the misconceptions the 'west' held in relation to Asian and North African societies. 1

• A quotation, rather than a paraphrase, makes your point more justifiable because it backs it up specifically :

Despite statements of generic graduate attributes being developed and published for over 20 years in Australia, this was often done hastily (Barrie, 2006) and far from them being agreed by a ‘university community’ the development group was often “a small working party of managerial staff and nominal academic representatives” (Knewstubb & Ruth, 2015:5).

• There is no other way of re-wording it:

The report identified several attributes that were suggested as generic: “communication, research and data retrieval skills and critical thinking” were proposed most often, with “synthesis, reflective practice, motivation for independent and continuing study, interpersonal skills and time management” also being suggested (HEQC, 1997b:17)

Writing and formatting quotations

Short quotations.

If a quotation is no more than 20 words (please note if you use APA referencing this is 40 words), you should place it inside quotation marks within the main body of your paragraph. You can either refer to the author within your sentence or you can add a citation* after the quote depending on your needs. 

For example, Seels (1994:108) stated “three theoretical constructs, visual thinking, learning, and communication, help define the phrase”. This suggests... 

The Australian Higher Education Council (HEC) believes that generic graduate attributes “represent the core achievement of a university education” (HEC, 1992 quoted in Barrie, 2006:218) and they ...

Long quotations

Quotations of more than 20 words should be placed in their own paragraph , indented by 1cm from each margin. You do not use quotation marks. The paragraph should always use single line spacing , even if you have used double/1.5 elsewhere:

Graduate attributes for employability are described as:

a set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes – that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy. (Yorke, 2006)

The main change in this definition compared to the earlier definition of graduate attributes from Bowden (2000) is that that the attributes are no longer ...

* These examples are using the Harvard (Hull) referencing style. 

Editing quotations

There are times when you need to make small edits to quotations to make them work out of context, remove unnecessary information, add emphasis or acknowledge errors. The conventions for these are given here.

Adding information

Sometimes, the quotation you want to include uses a pronoun (this, these, it etc) to refer to something that has been written in full earlier and you need include the full version in order for the quotation to make sense out of the original context. It is acceptable to edit the quotation to include the full term but you must make it clear that this has been added by you. Also, when you don't include all of a sentence, you sometimes need to add words later to make the sentence flow. To do this, put the added material in square brackets :

Original: "The focus on these skills has meant that graduate attributes are now becoming more tailored to the needs of employers rather than the academic discipline." 

Edited: "The focus on [employability] skills has meant that graduate attributes are now becoming more tailored to the needs of employers rather than the academic discipline." 

-------------

Original: "This makes noise pollution one of the most serious concerns in the conservation of cetacean species".

Edited: "Noise pollution [is] one of the most serious concerns in the conservation of cetacean species".

Omitting information

If the original quotation includes a section/word that is either not relevant to your point or not needed out of context and does not change the meaning of the quotation in any way, you can remove it and indicate the omission using an ellipsis ( ... ) . Advice about the spacing of the punctuation varies. For the sake of simplicity, we suggest a space, then 3 full stops and then another space (blah ... blah).

This is also often used when quoting interviewee words in research papers.

Original : "Reading stories also causes different brain regions to activate"

Edited : "Reading stories ... causes different brain regions to activate"

Original : "by reflecting on experiences, regardless of the model used, learning can be maximised."

Edited : "by reflecting on experiences ... learning can be  maximised."

Emphasising information

If you are using a quotation where specific words are important and you want to draw the reader's attention to them, you can add emphasis by italicising the text. However, if you do this, it is important to make sure your reader knows that this is your emphasis and not from the original text. Similarly, if an author has emphasised something, you should keep the formatting the same as the original but make it clear that the emphasis was the author's and not your own:

Ausburn and Ausburn (1978:291; emphasis added ) gave their definition as "a group of skills which enable an individual to understand and use visuals for intentionally communicating with others". 

This was also the view of the Archbishop of York when he spoke about the aims of a university at the ceremony granting the Royal Charter to the University of Nottingham in 1948.  He said that:

the true, dominating purpose of a university is to make persons , to form men and women, to develop their characters, so that they make the best possible use of their lives and any natural gifts they may possess. (Garbett, 1948:2;  emphasis in original )

Acknowledging errors etc

Sometimes, you want to use a quotation but it contains what may appear to be an error to your reader. This may be an actual error (spelling or a typo for example) but other times is could be that the word usage or formatting is archaic or non-standard in some way. If you think there is a chance that your reader may think the 'error' was yours, you can acknowledge it with the Latin term [sic]  which means 'thus was it written' and shows you have reproduced it faithfully.

"it'd be great if unis [sic] could develop a person's self-knowledge"

"A moment of panic before he saw him walking along the bench [sic] downshore with the pistol hanging in his hand, his head down." (McCarthy, 2006:228)

Giving page numbers

Whenever you use a quotation you should always give the page number of the source so that the reader can find it in context.

UoH Harvard referencing

Where possible, give the page number as shown in the examples above, after the year following a colon. If it is a long quotation that spans two pages in the original, show as (2019:45-6).

If there is a large gap between where the date is given and where the quotation appears, do not include the page number after the date, instead follow the quotation itself with (page n) as is shown in the example here: 

APA referencing

Put your page number after the date with the prefix p. for a single page or pp. if the quotation spans more than one page: (2019, p.14) or (2019, pp.14-15). 

If there is a large gap between where the date is given and where the quotation appears, do not include the page number after the date, instead follow the quotation itself with (p. n) as is shown in the example here: 

Seglem and Witte (2009) suggested that this was an even more important benefit than the widening of literacy in general, especially for students who have been previously “burned by print” (p. 224).

UoH Footnote referencing

The page numbers should be given at the end of the footnotes at the bottom of the page as shown in the various examples here:

-----------------------------

1  R. Seglem, & S. Witte, 'You gotta see it to believe it: Teaching visual literacy in the English classroom', Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy , 53, 3 (2009), 216-226, 224.

2   ibid. , 225.

3  S. Bailin & H. Siegel, 'Critical thinking', in N. Blake et al. (eds.), The Blackwell guide to the philosophy of education (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003), 181-193, 183.

4  Seglem & Witte, 'You gotta see it to believe it', 226.

OSCOLA referencing

Please refer to your specific guidelines as this varies slightly for different source types.

What is paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is expressing the written thoughts of published authors in your own words. Instead of using a direct quotation (the author's exact words - see previous section), you rewrite what they have said in your own style. At university, there are generally two contexts in which you will do this:

• during notetaking whilst reading a source of information (book, journal article etc)
• during the writing of an assignment - when you will  still cite  the author(s) of the original text.

It is an essential process to learn – indeed one which your tutors expect you to perform so that you can provide  evidence of appropriate reading  and of your  understanding  of that knowledge. The risk, of course, is that of plagiarism – if your version of a published text bears too close a resemblance to the original wording. Simply altering one or two words in the original is  not enough ; your version should be  distinct  from the original. 

It is extremely important to make sure you are not accidentally changing the meaning of what the author has written in any way. Sometimes this means reading a little further in the text to ensure you’ve understood the essence of the message correctly.

So how can a piece of text be changed into a completely new form of words but one which at the same time conveys the same message or idea as the original? This page will hopefully help you.

Why you should paraphrase

There are two main reasons why you should paraphrase:

• It shows you have understood the meaning of the text fully.
• It makes your writing flow more smoothly as it keeps the text in your own writing style.

How to paraphrase

The strategy to employ is to aim for understanding . This means that, ideally, you should not have your source of information (book, journal, web page etc.) open in front of you when you are writing. If you write as you read you are more likely to plagiarise accidentally so you should either have your source of information open OR your writing - not both at the same time. (The exception is if you are quoting directly, when you must ensure you read carefully so that the quotation is accurate).

This strategy forces you to assimilate properly what you are reading before then exchanging the source of information for your notes or essay. Read a section, a few pages, a chapter, close the book or journal or website and then (and only then) open your notebook or essay. If you have thoroughly understood what you have read, you will have less difficulty expressing it in your own words without referring to the original text. If you cannot, then you have probably not really understood it and will need to read it again. (Remember, the main reason you write essays is to show your understanding). This technique is good for revision too.

Pragmatic approach to paraphrasing

Whilst the above strategy is the ideal one to use, if you are new to paraphrasing, or if English is not your first language, then you may need to take a more pragmatic approach where you are able to see the original text as you create your own version.

Here are four main tactics to use when paraphrasing effectively:

• Changing the order of information
• Using synonyms or substitute words (e.g. aim for goal, unique for different)
• Using related words such as adjectives or nouns based on the same base word (e.g. criticality instead of critical).
• Removing what isn't needed for your point.

Step by step example:

Original text (from Ryan, 2011:101):

Academic reflection, as opposed to personal reflection, generally involves a conscious and stated purpose (Moon 2006), and needs to show evidence of learning. This type of purposeful reflection, which is generally the aim in higher-education courses, and is the focus of this paper, must ultimately reach the critical level for deep, active learning to occur.

1. The best way to start is by picking out the important parts :

Academic reflection, as opposed to personal reflection, generally involves a conscious and stated purpose (Moon 2006), and needs to show evidence of learning . This type of purposeful reflection , which is generally the aim in higher-education courses , and is the focus of this paper, must ultimately reach the critical level for deep, active learning to occur.

2. Putting these together by themselves gives:

evidence learning, purposeful reflection, the aim in higher education courses, reach the critical level for deep, active learning.

[This is what you are now working on - you only need to check back on the original at the end to ensure you haven't changed the meaning]

3. Changing the order and splitting some things up gives:

Purposeful reflection, active learning, the aim in higher education courses, deep learning, reach the critical level

4. Substituting a few words for their synonyms :

Purposeful reflection, active learning, objective of university courses, deep learning, reach a critical standard

5. Changing some words to  related words

Reflecting purposefully , learn actively , objective of university courses, deep learning, reach a standard of criticality

6. Removing unnecessary parts:

Reflecting purposefully, learn, objective of university, deep learning, standard of criticality

7. Joining these together:

The ability to reflect purposefully and learn from it is one objective of a university education. For deep learning to occur, a high  standard of criticality is needed (Ryan, 2011).

You can do steps 3-6 in any order you wish.

Note how some short phrases (i.e. deep learning) remain unchanged. That is fine, it is a concept in its own right and so can stay the same.

-----------------------------------------------------

Ryan, M. (2011) Improving reflective writing in higher education: a social semiotic perspective.  Teaching in Higher Education , 16(1), 99-111.

Examples of paraphrased text

Note on citing in these examples.

Example 1 shows in-text citations in Harvard and Example 2 shows them as footnote markers. Please note that for some disciplines using Harvard you may be required to give page numbers in your in-text citations for paraphrased text - please check with your lecturers. Footnote references always give page numbers for paraphrased text when they are relevant and available. See the examples at the bottom of the Quoting  tab for how to include page numbers.

 Example 1. Original text

"We come into the world with 100 billion neurons in place and ten times as many support cells. Each child’s experiences are unique – from within the womb and throughout the years of maturation. Our brains grow at an astonishing rate – doubling in size during the first two years and increasing by 400 per cent by sixteen years of age". (Sardar, et al., 2007:103).

 Example 1. Poorly paraphrased text

People are born with 100 billion neurons already in their brain and 1,000 billion support cells. Each child's life-events are distinctive – from inside the uterus and through their formative years. Brains increase in size at a remarkable speed – doubling in magnitude by the time children are two and growing by 400 per cent by the time they are sixteen. (Sardar et al., 2007).

This is plagiarism.

 Example 1. Well paraphrased text

A human baby already has 100 billion neurons at birth, along with ten times as many other brain cells. By the second year of life, its brain will have increased in size by a factor of two and by a factor of four by age sixteen, acquiring along the way a series of experiences which will be unique to that individual (Sardar et al., 2007).

Note the different structure, not just different words.

 Example 2. Original text

"A single case can be selected for in-depth study, or several cases can be selected so that they can be compared. The intent or objective of conducting a case study plays an important role regarding the choice of research design, and there are three design variations: intrinsic case study, instrumental case study, and collective or multiple case study." 1

 Example 2. Poorly paraphrased text

An individual case can be chosen for for in-depth consideration, or a number of cases can be selected for comparison. The objective or intent of doing a case study plays a crucial role regarding the design of the research. There are three design choices: intrinsic case study, instrumental case study, and collective case study. 1

 Example 2. Well paraphrased text

Case study research can involve single or multiple cases. Multiple cases are used when comparison is required though this can limit the depth of analysis that focusing on a single case can provide. 1  Case study design can be intrinsic, instrumental or collective/multiple - the choice of which is dictated by the underlying objectives of the research. 2

In this case the citation is given after both sentences as it is less obvious that they are both from the same source.

------------------------------------

1  L. D. Bloomberg, 'Case study method', in B. B. Frey (ed), The SAGE encyclopedia of educational research, measurement, and evaluation [eBook]. (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc., 2018), 237-240, 239.

2  ibid .

What is summarising?

Summarising is similar to paraphrasing, but instead of ending up with a piece of text of similar length, your text will be significantly shorter than the original. The idea is to pick out just the points that are relevant to your own writing. Often you are summarising whole chapters of books or whole journal articles so it enables you to show the range of your reading. You will need to reference them in a similar way to paraphrasing - but if you have summarised a whole source you will not need to give a page number even if your style usually uses them for paraphrased text. If you have summarised a shorter section, from 1 or 2 pages, you should use page numbers if it is required for paraphrases.

Why summarise?

Summarising shows you are reading critically and able to pick out which points from a source are relevant to the argument  you  are making. Like paraphrasing, it shows that you have understood the information and are able to express it in your own writing style. If you can express the information from a complex source simply and concisely then you are demonstrating a high level of comprehension which will be appreciated by your tutors.

​Summarising  a journal article or book chapter

When summarising an entire source such as a journal article, you can still take a particular angle on the source and be selective about what parts of the source best back up that angle. Of course you cannot misrepresent the article, so you must read it in full first to ensure that what your are saying is not contradicting the author's intent.

If you are summarising a journal article, you can start with the abstract - after all that is usually the author's own summary of their work. For chapters in edited books, the editors often give a summary of the chapters in their introduction. You should not use this instead of reading the whole source, but it is a good first place to look as you can get an idea what the author/editor thinks is important. 

Abstracts can themselves be summarised still further to form something that you can use in your own work. For example, look at the following abstract from our own Lee Fallin's paper  Beyond books: the concept of the academic library:

The paper aims to explore the issues surrounding the user conceptualisation of academic libraries. The paper will solidify the role of academic libraries as learning spaces and problematise how libraries are conceptualised by users.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a literature-based conceptual paper and draws on a wide range of literature to challenge the concept of academic libraries and presents how they are becoming reframed as different spaces.

The paper argues that the concept of a library is at risk. While libraries have undergone substantial changes, the concept of a library has lingered. This paper demonstrated that libraries need to proactively engage users in this debate.

Originality/value

The spatial approach taken by this paper demonstrates the complicity behind the user conceptualisation of libraries. Developing an understanding of this process is an important foundation for libraries to develop their user engagement.

This is an example of a structured abstract which is required by some journals - many others are free text with no headings. Summarising this to a single paragraph (for example to use in a literature review or annotated bibliography ), may produce something like this:

Longer summary

Fallin (2016) argues that while the term ‘library’ is often framed as something universally understood, it is actually more complicated. Instead, libraries should be seen as concepts, open to a range of different interpretations and understandings. He suggests this could be problematic as there is often a mismatch between what libraries actually do and how they are understood. The traditional view of the library as a book-based institution still perpetuates but does not account for the new services libraries provide.

If you were using this source to back up an argument within an essay, you probably would not need even this much detail. The following could be enough:

Shorter summary 1

Fallin (2016) argues that although the traditional view of the library as a book-based institution still perpetuates, this does not account for the new services libraries provide.

Depending on the angle you are taking, you could choose to summarise the article differently. The main point of this summary is not found within the abstract but is heavily alluded to within the paper itself - showing how you cannot just rely on the abstract alone:

Shorter summary 2

Fallin (2016) argues that individuals conceive the academic library differently which makes it difficult for library management to create spaces that work for all users.

Analysing your summary

When summarising, you should not include your own comments or analysis within  the summary. However, you must do this before or after the summary to show that you are not just informing the reader of what the article said, but are integrating it into your own argument. Phrases like "what this means is..."; "this suggests that..."; "in the context of [essay topic], this may indicate that..." need to be used to show how the article is relevant to the claims you are making in your paragraph.

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• How to Quote | Citing Quotes in APA, MLA & Chicago

How to Quote | Citing Quotes in APA, MLA & Chicago

Published on April 15, 2022 by Shona McCombes and Jack Caulfield. Revised on May 31, 2023.

Quoting means copying a passage of someone else’s words and crediting the source. To quote a source, you must ensure:

• The quoted text is enclosed in quotation marks or formatted as a block quote
• The original author is correctly cited
• The text is identical to the original

The exact format of a quote depends on its length and on which citation style you are using. Quoting and citing correctly is essential to avoid plagiarism which is easy to detect with a good plagiarism checker .

Table of contents

How to cite a quote in apa, mla and chicago, introducing quotes, quotes within quotes, shortening or altering a quote, block quotes, when should i use quotes, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about quoting sources.

Every time you quote, you must cite the source correctly . This looks slightly different depending on the citation style you’re using. Three of the most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

Citing a quote in APA Style

To cite a direct quote in APA , you must include the author’s last name, the year, and a page number, all separated by commas . If the quote appears on a single page, use “p.”; if it spans a page range, use “pp.”

An APA in-text citation can be parenthetical or narrative. In a parenthetical citation , you place all the information in parentheses after the quote. In a narrative citation , you name the author in your sentence (followed by the year), and place the page number after the quote.

Punctuation marks such as periods and commas are placed after the citation, not within the quotation marks .

• Evolution is a gradual process that “can act only by very short and slow steps” (Darwin, 1859, p. 510) .
• Darwin (1859) explains that evolution “can act only by very short and slow steps” (p. 510) .

Complete guide to APA

Citing a quote in mla style.

An MLA in-text citation includes only the author’s last name and a page number. As in APA, it can be parenthetical or narrative, and a period (or other punctuation mark) appears after the citation.

• Evolution is a gradual process that “can act only by very short and slow steps” (Darwin 510) .
• Darwin explains that evolution “can act only by very short and slow steps” (510) .

Complete guide to MLA

Citing a quote in chicago style.

Chicago style uses Chicago footnotes to cite sources. A note, indicated by a superscript number placed directly after the quote, specifies the author, title, and page number—or sometimes fuller information .

Unlike with parenthetical citations, in this style, the period or other punctuation mark should appear within the quotation marks, followed by the footnote number.

Complete guide to Chicago style

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Make sure you integrate quotes properly into your text by introducing them in your own words, showing the reader why you’re including the quote and providing any context necessary to understand it.  Don’t  present quotations as stand-alone sentences.

There are three main strategies you can use to introduce quotes in a grammatically correct way:

• Add an introductory sentence
• Use an introductory signal phrase
• Integrate the quote into your own sentence

The following examples use APA Style citations, but these strategies can be used in all styles.

Introductory sentence

Introduce the quote with a full sentence ending in a colon . Don’t use a colon if the text before the quote isn’t a full sentence.

If you name the author in your sentence, you may use present-tense verbs , such as “states,” “argues,” “explains,” “writes,” or “reports,” to describe the content of the quote.

• In Denmark, a recent poll shows that: “A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters” (Levring, 2018, p. 3).
• In Denmark, a recent poll shows that support for the EU has grown since the Brexit vote: “A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters” (Levring, 2018, p. 3).
• Levring (2018) reports that support for the EU has grown since the Brexit vote: “A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters” (p. 3).

Introductory signal phrase

You can also use a signal phrase that mentions the author or source, but doesn’t form a full sentence. In this case, you follow the phrase with a comma instead of a colon.

• According to a recent poll, “A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters” (Levring, 2018, p. 3).
• As Levring (2018) explains, “A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters” (p. 3).

Integrated into your own sentence

To quote a phrase that doesn’t form a full sentence, you can also integrate it as part of your sentence, without any extra punctuation .

• A recent poll suggests that EU membership “would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters” in a referendum (Levring, 2018, p. 3).
• Levring (2018) reports that EU membership “would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters” in a referendum (p. 3).

When you quote text that itself contains another quote, this is called a nested quotation or a quote within a quote. It may occur, for example, when quoting dialogue from a novel.

To distinguish this quote from the surrounding quote, you enclose it in single (instead of double) quotation marks (even if this involves changing the punctuation from the original text). Make sure to close both sets of quotation marks at the appropriate moments.

Note that if you only quote the nested quotation itself, and not the surrounding text, you can just use double quotation marks.

• Carraway introduces his narrative by quoting his father: “ “ Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, ” he told me, “ just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had ” ” (Fitzgerald 1).
• Carraway introduces his narrative by quoting his father: “‘Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had ” (Fitzgerald 1).
• Carraway introduces his narrative by quoting his father: “‘Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had’” (Fitzgerald 1).
• Carraway begins by quoting his father’s invocation to “remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had” (Fitzgerald 1).

Note:  When the quoted text in the source comes from another source, it’s best to just find that original source in order to quote it directly. If you can’t find the original source, you can instead cite it indirectly .

Often, incorporating a quote smoothly into your text requires you to make some changes to the original text. It’s fine to do this, as long as you clearly mark the changes you’ve made to the quote.

Shortening a quote

If some parts of a passage are redundant or irrelevant, you can shorten the quote by removing words, phrases, or sentences and replacing them with an ellipsis (…). Put a space before and after the ellipsis.

Be careful that removing the words doesn’t change the meaning. The ellipsis indicates that some text has been removed, but the shortened quote should still accurately represent the author’s point.

Altering a quote

You can add or replace words in a quote when necessary. This might be because the original text doesn’t fit grammatically with your sentence (e.g., it’s in a different verb tense), or because extra information is needed to clarify the quote’s meaning.

Use brackets to distinguish words that you have added from words that were present in the original text.

The Latin term “ sic ” is used to indicate a (factual or grammatical) mistake in a quotation. It shows the reader that the mistake is from the quoted material, not a typo of your own.

In some cases, it can be useful to italicize part of a quotation to add emphasis, showing the reader that this is the key part to pay attention to. Use the phrase “emphasis added” to show that the italics were not part of the original text.

You usually don’t need to use brackets to indicate minor changes to punctuation or capitalization made to ensure the quote fits the style of your text.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

If you quote more than a few lines from a source, you must format it as a block quote . Instead of using quotation marks, you set the quote on a new line and indent it so that it forms a separate block of text.

Block quotes are cited just like regular quotes, except that if the quote ends with a period, the citation appears after the period.

To the end of his days Bilbo could never remember how he found himself outside, without a hat, a walking-stick or any money, or anything that he usually took when he went out; leaving his second breakfast half-finished and quite unwashed-up, pushing his keys into Gandalf’s hands, and running as fast as his furry feet could carry him down the lane, past the great Mill, across The Water, and then on for a mile or more. (16)

Avoid relying too heavily on quotes in academic writing . To integrate a source , it’s often best to paraphrase , which means putting the passage in your own words. This helps you integrate information smoothly and keeps your own voice dominant.

However, there are some situations in which quoting is more appropriate.

When focusing on language

If you want to comment on how the author uses language (for example, in literary analysis ), it’s necessary to quote so that the reader can see the exact passage you are referring to.

When giving evidence

To convince the reader of your argument, interpretation or position on a topic, it’s often helpful to include quotes that support your point. Quotes from primary sources (for example, interview transcripts or historical documents) are especially credible as evidence.

When presenting an author’s position or definition

When you’re referring to secondary sources such as scholarly books and journal articles, try to put others’ ideas in your own words when possible.

But if a passage does a great job at expressing, explaining, or defining something, and it would be very difficult to paraphrase without changing the meaning or losing the weakening the idea’s impact, it’s worth quoting directly.

If you want to know more about ChatGPT, AI tools , citation , and plagiarism , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• ChatGPT vs human editor
• ChatGPT citations
• Is ChatGPT trustworthy?
• Using ChatGPT for your studies
• What is ChatGPT?
• Chicago style
• Paraphrasing
• Critical thinking

 Plagiarism

• Types of plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• Avoiding plagiarism
• Academic integrity
• Consequences of plagiarism
• Common knowledge

A quote is an exact copy of someone else’s words, usually enclosed in quotation marks and credited to the original author or speaker.

In academic writing , there are three main situations where quoting is the best choice:

• To analyze the author’s language (e.g., in a literary analysis essay )
• To give evidence from primary sources
• To accurately present a precise definition or argument

Don’t overuse quotes; your own voice should be dominant. If you just want to provide information from a source, it’s usually better to paraphrase or summarize .

Every time you quote a source , you must include a correctly formatted in-text citation . This looks slightly different depending on the citation style .

For example, a direct quote in APA is cited like this: “This is a quote” (Streefkerk, 2020, p. 5).

Every in-text citation should also correspond to a full reference at the end of your paper.

A block quote is a long quote formatted as a separate “block” of text. Instead of using quotation marks , you place the quote on a new line, and indent the entire quote to mark it apart from your own words.

The rules for when to apply block quote formatting depend on the citation style:

• APA block quotes are 40 words or longer.
• MLA block quotes are more than 4 lines of prose or 3 lines of poetry.
• Chicago block quotes are longer than 100 words.

If you’re quoting from a text that paraphrases or summarizes other sources and cites them in parentheses , APA and Chicago both recommend retaining the citations as part of the quote. However, MLA recommends omitting citations within a quote:

• APA: Smith states that “the literature on this topic (Jones, 2015; Sill, 2019; Paulson, 2020) shows no clear consensus” (Smith, 2019, p. 4).
• MLA: Smith states that “the literature on this topic shows no clear consensus” (Smith, 2019, p. 4).

Footnote or endnote numbers that appear within quoted text should be omitted in all styles.

If you want to cite an indirect source (one you’ve only seen quoted in another source), either locate the original source or use the phrase “as cited in” in your citation.

In scientific subjects, the information itself is more important than how it was expressed, so quoting should generally be kept to a minimum. In the arts and humanities, however, well-chosen quotes are often essential to a good paper.

In social sciences, it varies. If your research is mainly quantitative , you won’t include many quotes, but if it’s more qualitative , you may need to quote from the data you collected .

As a general guideline, quotes should take up no more than 5–10% of your paper. If in doubt, check with your instructor or supervisor how much quoting is appropriate in your field.

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