Skip to Main Content

Citations

Welcome!

A painting of a 19th century Chinese scholar sitting next to a desk with scrolls, writing implements and a plant. This guide will help you create in-text and bibliographic citations in a variety of styles and select a citation management software. For additional help with citations and citation managers, please make an appointment with a librarian.

 

 

 

 

 

Image: Ren Yi (Ren Bonian) (Chinese, 1840–1896), "Zong Kui," hanging scroll, ink and color on silk, 1883, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 

Information About Citations and Citation Styles

 

A citation is made up of two parts: 1) an in-text citation that indicates which words and ideas you borrowed from another source, and 2) a bibliographic citation that gives your reader all the information they need to find that source.

Regardless of which style you are using, bibliographic citations are all make up of the same basic information (author, title, publication date, etc.). How that information is structured, however, is determined by the citation style you are using. Below is the citation of a scholarly article in four different styles, highlighting the similarities and differences between styles. 

Graphic comparing the bibliographic citation of a scholarly article in four different citation styles.