How to Cite a Printed Source

Most high school students and all college students write research papers. To avoid the appearance of plagiarism and to properly document your sources, you need to know how to cite a source. Most students use MLA (Modern Language Association) or APA (American Psychological Association) style for documenting those sources.

Instructions

  1. MLA Style

    • 1

      Collect the following information from each source: author's complete name(s); full title of the book, magazine or article; city of publication; publisher; and date of publication.

    • 2

      Cite your sources in the body of the paper whenever you summarize or quote the material. There are two ways to do this. Refer to the author's name in your sentence, then include the page number in parentheses at the end (but before the period). For example: "In his most recent publication, Dr. Frost states that citing sources is important (233)." If you do not include the author's name but are paraphrasing his work, your reference should look like this: "The study of molecular biology contributes to everything we do (Frost 233)."

    • 3

      Organize the information for your works cited page or bibliography in this way: Author's last name, first name. Full title of the book or printed material. City of publication, publisher, date.

    • 4

      List your bibliography entries in alphabetical order by the author's last name.

    APA Style

    • 5

      Collect the following information from each source: author's complete name(s); full title of the book, magazine or article; city of publication; publisher; and date of publication.

    • 6

      Cite your sources in the body of the paper whenever you summarize or quote the material. There are two ways to do this. Refer to the author's name in your sentence, then include the page number in parentheses at the end (but before the period). For example: "In his 2004 publication, Dr. Frost states that citing sources is important (p. 233)." If you do not include the author's name but are paraphrasing his work, your reference should look like this: "The study of molecular biology contributes to everything we do (Frost, 2004, p. 233)."

    • 7

      Organize the information for your reference page or bibliography in this way: Author's last name, first initial (year of publication). Full title of the book or printed material. City of publication: publisher.

      For the title of the work, capitalize only the first word and any proper adjectives or proper nouns.

    • 8

      List your bibliography entries in alphabetical order by the author's last name.

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