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Citations - MLA, APA, and Chicago Manual of Style

This guide provides information on creating citations in three major citation styles: MLA, APA, and Chicago Manual of Style.

Citations

This guide will help you create citations for your research papers. Proper citations allow you to give credit to those whose work you're using and help you avoid plagiarism.

If you still have questions about citations, your librarians can help! Click the purple Ask a Librarian button from the library website and start a chat or schedule a research appointment with a librarian.

A Word About Online Citation Generators

It's best to avoid using online citation generators like EasyBib (from Chegg). Citation generators are only as good as the information you give it to start with!

The format always defaults to "webpage," so when you find the information on a website, it makes sense to leave it set to webpage, right?

Yes, you may find the information on a website, but that's not the format of the information. You might actually have a book chapter, a blog post, a government publication, or any one of these examples shown in EasyBib's drop-down menu of formats. Where you found the article is not the same as its format. For more information on formats and source types, visit our ENG151 research guide.

EasyBib list of format options: website, book, journal, editorial, email, encyclopedia, executive order, federal bill, federal report

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you use the URL for a library database article, it will create a citation with a link that goes to a database login page, not the article you're trying to cite. Citation generators also often fail to include page numbers, volume, issue, or any number of other important citation details.

Example citation created by EasyBib for an article found on a website:

Social Media Discussions Predict Mental Health Consultations on College Campuses

Saha, Koustuv, et al. “Social Media Discussions Predict Mental Health Consultations on College Campuses.” Nature News,
           Nature Publishing Group, 7 Jan. 2022, www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-03423-4.

Problems:

  • MLA style
  • Uses URL for website where article was found
  • Journal name incorrect
  • Lists one author then et al.
  • Volume?
  • Issue?
  • Article title is in quotation marks (MLA formatting)

Correct Citation

Yes, the article was found on a website, but the format of the information is actually a journal article. Here is the complete and correct citation:

Saha, K., Yousuf, A., Boyd, R. L., Pennebaker, J. W., & De Choudhury, M. (2022). Social Media Discussions Predict Mental
      Health Consultations on College Campuses. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-03423-4

Corrections:

  • Science article requires APA citation
  • APA uses DOI instead of a URL
  • Uses correct date format
  • Has correct journal name
  • Includes volume and issue
  • Article title in APA has no special formatting. The title of the journal is italicized.