How Do I Cite an Essay I Authored?

Citing Your Essay in MLA Style

• 1

  List your last name, a comma, first name and a period. For example:

  Smith, Johannes.

• 2

  List the title of your essay in quotation marks. Follow this with a period that falls inside the quotation marks. For example:

  "An Essay Concerning Beets in America."

• 3

  List the format of the source, followed by a period. This should appear as follows:

  Unpublished essay.

• 4

  List the year in which the essay was written, followed by a period. For example:

  2010.

• 5

  Ensure that the finished citation is arranged in the following format:

  Smith, Johannes. "An Essay Concerning Beets in America." Unpublished essay. 2010.

Citing Your Essay in APA Style

• 6

  List your last name, a comma, first initial and a period. For example:

  Smith, J.

• 7

  List the year in which the essay was written, enclosed in parentheses and followed by a period. For example:

  (2010).

• 8

  List the title of your essay in italics, followed by a period. Capitalize only the first letter of the title, and the first letters of any proper nouns that appear in the title. For example:

  An essay concerning beets in America.

• 9

  List the format of the source, followed by a period. This should appear as follows:

  Unpublished manuscript.

• 10

  Ensure that the finished citation is arranged in the following format:

  Smith, J. (2010). An essay concerning beets in America. Unpublished manuscript.

  If your essay has been submitted for publication but not yet published, make note of that. For example:

  Smith, J. (2010). An essay concerning beets in America. Manuscript submitted for publication.