Citing sources in your writing can be difficult. You might be asking yourself: What citation style should I use? How do I create a bibliography or works cited in MLA? What are the differences between Chicago and APA?

As a student, I know firsthand how challenging it can be to navigate different citation styles. Therefore, I've compiled all the need-to-know information about popular styles, when to use which one, and examples of both how to quote and how to cite your sources. For more specific cases, I suggest referring to Purdue University's Online Writing Lab, which has links to style guides and additional examples on formatting. Now, let's get started!

MLA (Modern Language Association)

If you're in a humanities or liberal arts class, chances are that MLA is the expected format for academic papers. This includes fields such as English, literature, languages, philosophy, and cultural studies. Other disciplines, such as film studies and art history, may also use MLA. Additionally, many middle and high schools expect students to understand and utilize this citation style.

For general formatting, MLA requires 12-inch margins, double-spaced text, 12-point font size, and an easy-to-read font (commonly Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri). Headers include the author's last name and the page number in the top right-hand corner.

In the top left corner of the page, there are four key pieces of information, with each written on a different line, in the following order: the name of the author, the name of the instructor, the class title, and the date written in day, month, and year format. An example of the date written in said format is 1 August 2025. Then, press the Enter key and center the title of the paper without changing the formatting.

In-Text Citations

When quoting or paraphrasing information from a source, an in-text citation is used. This looks like two parentheses with the author's last name and the page number in MLA format. For example, Beth used to fear Mr. Laurence, but she realized a powerful lesson when she reached out to him with her gratitude for a gift: "She learned that love is more powerful than fear" (Alcott 54).

If there are two authors, separate their last names with an "and." For three authors, include the first author's last name and "et al." (meaning and others). Do not include a comma between the name/s and the page number.

In cases where there is no author listed, add the title of the work in quotation marks instead. For reference: To apply for admission to Harvard College, students "must complete the Common Application or Coalition Application by Scoir, along with the required supplements" ("First-Year Applicants"). If a page number was provided, that information would follow the title.

Bibliography Citations

To create a citation for a bibliography or works cited page, you can either do so by hand or with a citation tool. I use Google Docs' free built-in resource, which has MLA (8th edition), APA (7th edition), and Chicago (17th edition). To access the citation tool, open a new Google Doc and click on Tools, then Citations.

A citation in MLA format may look like:

Snicket, Lemony. The Bad Beginning. Scholastic, 1999.

Formatting-wise, the works cited or bibliography should be on its own page with the same formatting as the main body of the paper. Make sure to center the label of the page without changing the formatting (no bolding, italicizing, etc.) and alphabetize the sources.

Each source should also have a hanging indent where all but the first line of the citation should be moved half an inch to the right. Also, the first word/s of the work attribution should match the in-text citations. Hence, the author's last name or the title of the work should lead the citation.

Take the Quiz: Which US Boarding School fits you best?

Find out where you should spend your high school career

APA (American Psychological Association)

For academic papers in the social sciences, APA is the ubiquitous citation style. Fields that use APA include psychology, nursing, public health, sociology, economics, education, and business.

General formatting rules are rather consistent with MLA. Both styles include text that is double-spaced with one-inch margins. For APA, the font and font size are up to the author's preference; however, they should be readable. The APA Manual recommends fonts between 10 and 12 points in Times New Roman, Arial, or Georgia, among others.

The header for APA student papers only includes a right-centered page number beginning on the title page. On this title page, enter between three and four times before writing a bolded title. Then, after leaving a blank line, include the following elements on a new line each time: your name, the department and school name, the class title and number, the course instructor's name, and the assignment due date. All of the above information is centered.

One distinguishing feature of APA is the numerous headings used within the main body of text to organize the paper's content. For main headings, center and bold the text. Subheadings, on the other hand, should be left-aligned and still bolded.

There are also additional levels of headings and subheadings, each with slightly different formats. For further information, please view the video embedded above.

In-Text Citations

For direct quotes from a text, APA in-text citations include the author's last name, the source material's publication year, and the page number or page range (p. for one page and pp. for more than one), all separated by a comma and inside of two parentheses. If you are paraphrasing information, then the page number is not applicable.

An example of a lead-in, direct quote from a Junior Classics for Young Readers' edition of Little Women, and an in-text citation in APA format from is provided below:

Beth used to fear Mr. Laurence, but she realized a powerful lesson when she reached out to him with her gratitude for a gift: "She learned that love is more powerful than fear" (Alcott, 2014, p. 54).

If the source you're citing does not have any page numbers, then use another element that can help the reader identify where exactly in the source the quote can be found. For example, you can reference a paragraph, table, verse, or chapter number.

When a source has multiple authors, use the same general APA formatting. For two source contributors, separate the two authors' last names with an "and." Use "et al." after the first author's last name for three or more authors.

Bibliography Citations

The reference page begins with a new page and a centered, bolded title. Below the title, each source is alphabetized with a hanging indent, the same as MLA formatting. The citation, however, has some key differences, such as only capitalizing proper nouns and the first letter of the first word in article titles. Furthermore, first names are only initials, and the DOI or the digital object identifier is preferred over a URL.

A source attribution in an APA reference page may look like the following:

Snicket, L. (1999). The Bad Beginning. Scholastic.

Be sure to double-check your citations since the formatting changes based on what kind of source was used. For further details, navigate through the links on the left-hand side of the page under Purdue Online Writing Lab's APA reference guide.

Chicago/Turabian (CMOS)

Created by the University of Chicago Press, this style is further divided into two formats: the notes and bibliography (NB) and author-date. For humanities papers written in the Chicago style, NB is often used whereas author-date is more popular within social sciences and sciences.

Formatting set-up conventions are quite similar to MLA and APA. Pages should be double-spaced except for the bibliography and a few other situations, font should be readable (between 10 and 12-point), and margins should be uniformly one inch.

The title page includes the title of the paper, the student's name, the class name and number, and the date in month, day, year format. All of the information should be centered with no bold or italicized text. Format-wise, the top third of the page should be blank with the title directly below said empty space. Then, several lines should separate the title from the student's name.

In the case of writing a thesis, a different format will apply under the Turabian style.

In-Text Citations

Whether or not in-text citations are used in the Chicago style depends on whether NB or the author-date system is being used. For the notes and bibliography system, superscript numbers in the body of the paper are present with corresponding footnotes at the bottom of each page.

Conversely, the author-date system incorporates a similar format to APA, where the author's last name is followed by the publication year and the page number, all enclosed in parentheses. However, in author-date, there is no comma between the last name and the year. In addition, there is no "p./pp." needed; instead, just list the page number.

See the following example of a lead-in, quote from the Junior Classics for Young Readers' edition of Little Women, and an in-text citation in author-date formatting:

Beth used to fear Mr. Laurence, but she realized a powerful lesson when she reached out to him with her gratitude for a gift: "She learned that love is more powerful than fear" (Alcott 2014, 54).

When the source material lacks an author's name, place the title of the work in quotes instead. For multiple authors, use the same format as MLA and APA. Remember that there is no comma between the author's or authors' last names and the year in all cases.

Bibliography Citations

The Chicago style has some key similarities with APA and MLA present in its reference page. All three citation conventions include hanging indents and alphabetized sources that match the in-text citations.

If you are citing sources from the same author, only keep the author's name for the first citation. Then, use a 3-em dash for the name in subsequent references that were published in later years.

When there is any essential information unavailable, use "n.d." for sources without publication dates or "n.p." for works without listed places.

A citation using Chicago could look like the one formatted below:

Snicket, Lemony. 1999. The Bad Beginning. N.p.: Scholastic.

Conclusion

In addition to the three most popular citation styles described above, there are also many others. For example, when citing for a science class (such as chemistry or environmental science), CSE or Council of Science Editors may be the preferred style. Therefore, it's best to check with each of your teachers and professors on what citation style they expect.

If you're juggling using varying citation styles within different classes and extracurricular settings, remember to check back with the style guidelines and access the plethora of online resources. Also, practice makes perfect, so be sure to regularly reference examples of properly cited works. After all, citations are here to stay... which means that they'll "never go out of style" (Swift, 2014).