How to Write a Proper Citation

With plagiarism on the rise on some campuses, students should be well-versed in citing references to give credit to original authors. Plagiarism is the act of taking another persons words, works, or ideas and passing them off as your own work within a text. It is important to cite all ideas, summaries, paraphrases and quotes that come from any source but yourself. If they subject in question is not thought to be common knowledge, a source should be found and cited. There are several different writing styles that are popular for academics and each follow different citation reference rules.

Instructions

    • 1

      Ask your teacher or professor the style that he prefers you to use for your paper. The most common styles for academic writing include APA (American Psychological Association), MLA (Modern Language Association) and "Chicago Manual of Style." Each of these styles comes with its own set of rules for citations.

    • 2

      Write an American Psychological Association (APA) in-text citation. This style of writing is generally used for papers written in areas of social science such as psychology, anthropology and sociology. Open parenthesis and type the last name of the author of the source, followed with a comma, proceeded by the date of publication, another comma, a "p." and then the page number. There should be no space between the "p." and the page number. An example of a proper APA citation would be, "(Green, 2005, p.100)."

    • 3

      Write a Modern Language Association (MLA) in-text citation. This type of writing style is most commonly used in areas of English, literature, and some humanities subjects. Open parenthesis, write the last name of the author of the source, followed with the the page number and close parenthesis. An example of a proper MLA citation would be, "(Green 65)."

    • 4

      Write a "Chicago Manual of Style" in-text citation. Chicago style is mostly used for history-related subjects, but can also be used for some humanity subject areas. Open parenthesis, type the last name of the author, followed by the year of publication, a comma, and then the page number. A proper Chicago style citation would be, "(Green 2008, 92)."

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