There are many different citation styles to choose from but APA, MLA and Chicago are the three most commonly used in academic works.
APA (American Psychological Association) is typically used for the traditional sciences such as Math and Chemistry, while the MLA (Modern Language Association) style is used for humanities and social sciences topics such as Anthropology, Cultural Studies or Literature and finally, the Chicago Manual of Style is often used in Art and History topics.
If you're unsure which style to use in your course assignments, consult your syllabus or reach out to your professor. You may also consult one of the library guides below to help you get started:
If you need additional assistance, please make an appointment with your subject librarian or with your campus writing center.
APA Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is the style manual of choice for writers, editors, students, and educators in the social and behavioural sciences. It provides invaluable guidance on all aspects of the writing process, from the ethics of authorship to the word choice that best reduces bias in language. Well-known for its authoritative and easy-to-use reference and citation system, the Publication Manual also offers guidance on choosing the headings, tables, figures and tone that will result in strong, simple, and elegant scientific communication. The Sixth Edition offers new and expanded instruction on publication ethics, statistics, journal article reporting standards, electronic reference formats, and the construction of tables and figures. The Sixth Edition has been revised and updated to include new ethics guidance on such topics as determining authorship and terms of collaboration, duplicate publication, plagiarism and self-plagiarism, disguising of participants, validity of instrumentation, and making data available to others for verification; new journal article reporting standards to help readers report empirical research with clarity and precision; simplified APA heading style to make it more conducive to electronic publication; updated guidelines for reducing bias in language to reflect current practices and preferences, including a new section on presenting historical language that is inappropriate by present standards; new guidelines for reporting inferential statistics and a significantly revised table of statistical abbreviations new instruction on using supplemental files containing lengthy data sets and other media; significantly expanded content on the electronic presentation of data to help readers understand the purpose of each kind of display and choose the best match for communicating the results of the investigation, with new examples for a variety of data displays, including electrophysiological and biological data; consolidated information on all aspects of reference citations, with an expanded discussion of electronic sources emphasising the role of the digital object identifier (DOI) as a reliable way to locate information; and expanded discussion of the publication process, including the function and process of peer review; a discussion of ethical, legal, and policy requirements in publication; and guidelines on working with the publisher while the article is in press. Key to this edition of the Publication Manual is an updated and expanded Web presence. Visit the APA Style web site to Look up additional supplemental material keyed to the book Test your knowledge of APA Style with a free tutorial on style basics Learn about the changes in the sixth edition with a free tutorial reviewing key revisions Sign up for an on-line course to enrich and enhance your understanding of APA Style Read the APA Style blog and share your comments on writing and referencing Consult frequently asked questions to sharpen your understanding of APA Style Examine additional resources on such topics as ethics, statistics, and writing Familiarise yourself with submission standards for APA books and journals What''s New in the Sixth Edition? Book has been updated to acknowledge and incorporate advances in computer technology. New discussions of the creation, submission, and storage of supplemental data. New guidelines for referencing electronic sources. New and expanded reference examples for a variety of on-line sources. Redesigned APA Style website, expanded to provide tutorials, on-line courses, and other resources for learning APA style. Book has been reorganised and streamlined for ease of use Organised to describe the writing process from idea to publication, it begins with background information on ethical issues in publishing, then moves on to manuscript structure and content, then writing style and rules, then graphics and references, then guidance on working with the publisher. Sample paper section has been moved up and featured to better exemplify manuscript structure and content Like discussions have been moved to one place in the book, with discussions of function followed by instruction on form. Focus has been broadened to include readers in the behavioural and social sciences. Information specific to APA has been moved to the web, where it is more broadly accessible and can be updated frequently. New examples throughout the book have been drawn from publications in education, business, and nursing as well as psychology.
The Chicago Manual of Style by
Technologies may change, but the need for clear and accurate communication never goes out of style. That is why for more than one hundred years The Chicago Manual of Style has remained the definitive guide for anyone who works with words. In the seven years since the previous edition debuted, we have seen an extraordinary evolution in the way we create and share knowledge. This seventeenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style has been prepared with an eye toward how we find, create, and cite information that readers are as likely to access from their pockets as from a bookshelf. It offers updated guidelines on electronic workflows and publication formats, tools for PDF annotation and citation management, web accessibility standards, and effective use of metadata, abstracts, and keywords. It recognizes the needs of those who are self-publishing or following open access or Creative Commons publishing models. The citation chapters reflect the ever-expanding universe of electronic sources--including social media posts and comments, private messages, and app content--and also offer updated guidelines on such issues as DOIs, time stamps, and e-book locators. Other improvements are independent of technological change. The chapter on grammar and usage includes an expanded glossary of problematic words and phrases and a new section on syntax as well as updated guidance on gender-neutral pronouns and bias-free language. Key sections on punctuation and basic citation style have been reorganized and clarified. To facilitate navigation, headings and paragraph titles have been revised and clarified throughout. And the bibliography has been updated and expanded to include the latest and best resources available. This edition continues to reflect expert insights gathered from Chicago's own staff and from an advisory board of publishing experts from across the profession. It also includes suggestions inspired by emails, calls, and even tweets from readers. No matter how much the means of communication change, The Chicago Manual of Style remains the ultimate resource for those who care about getting the details right.
MLA Handbook by In citing film and other media, use the citation form for the format in which you watched the work being cited.
For example:
From the UC Berkeley site.
