How to Create a Citation Page

Citation pages, also called bibliographies or reference lists, record the resources used in creating a paper and list information useful in locating each book or article. Creating a citation page allows your readers to learn more about the topic of your work. According to the Duke University Libraries, properly citing your resources is also an ethical obligation and a professional courtesy.

Instructions

    • 1
      Gather the resources you used during writing.

      Gather the resources you used during writing. If they are not physically available, collect enough basic information about each book that another person could locate that resource in a library. According to the UC Santa Cruz University Library, such basic citation information should include each resource's author, title, publication information (like data and location), page numbers, issue and volume number, and journal title if your resource is an article.

    • 2
      Pick the appropriate citation style for your needs.

      Based on your course requirements or audience needs, pick the appropriate citation style. According the the Purdue Online Writing Lab, APA, MLA, and Chicago Manual of Style are three popular styles for academic and professional writing. APA style is used for psychology papers, MLA style is used for humanities papers, and Chicago style is used for history papers.

    • 3
      Properly format your citations.

      Follow the instructions provided by your style's official website to properly format your citations. Remember that different styles format resources differently. For example, MLA and APA each style author names in a particular way. MLA style would list two author as "Tweedlededum, Ann, and Tweedlededee, Bob," while APA style would list the same authors as "Tweedlededum, A, & B. Tweedlededee."

    • 4
      Page layout should also meet your style's standards.

      Adjust the layout of your citation page to conform to the standards described on your style's official website. Individual styles each have certain requirements for the look of the citation page. For example, APA style requires particular types of indentation and capitalization. Pay particular attention to the formatting of short versus long resources, as with journal articles versus books. Citation styles often differentiate these two lengths of resources through a formatting trick such as italicization.

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