MLA formatting is often used for research papers within the humanities and liberal arts. In-text parenthetical citations place the appropriate source in parentheses directly following a quote or paraphrased information. The information must correlate with the information listed in the paper's "Works Cited" page.
Endnotes or footnotes may be used to refer the reader to additional publications or to provide content notes that provide additional information. Papers must include a separate page at the end entitled "Works Cited."
APA style is often used for research papers within the social sciences. In-text citations are used, and are formatted with the author's last name and the source's publication year in parentheses with full reference information included in a list at the end of the research paper. Endnotes or footnotes are allowed only if necessary to provide explanatory information. Content notes, which provide additional information for the reader, are allowed but must be short and focused on one subject.
The reference list should be a new page located at the end of the research paper, and should contain references for all sources used in the paper. The first line of each reference should not be indented; however, each subsequent line should be indented by one-half inch. Each should include the last name of the author, then the first name; the list should be alphabetized according to the authors' last names.
The "Chicago Manual of Style" has a notes-bibliography (NB) citation system, and is mainly used by publishers and students in the arts, history or literature. The NB system uses endnotes or footnotes along with a bibliography at the end of the paper. Each time a source is used, whether is paraphrased or directly quoted, the writer should provide an endnote/footnote. The first note should include all applicable source information while each subsequent note only needs to include the author's last name, title and page number. The "Bibliography" page should be a separate page at the end of the paper and must include each source cited in the research paper. The bibliography is alphabetized according to the author's last name.