Citation Styles
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About This Guide
Who Should Use This Guide
This Library Guide aims to support students and faculty needing information about:
- When to cite a source
- What citation style to use
- How to create citations
This guide covers several common citation styles, like APA, MLA, Chicago, and AMA. This guide also provides resources for citation styles used in other disciplines. Official style guides will demonstrate how associations, journals, or publishers format citations, bibliographies, and other elements.
How to Use This Guide
Citation styles used across various disciplines, including APA, MLA, Chicago, and AMA, have individual pages. To learn how to use citation generators, generate citations from library databases, and cite generative AI, refer to the Citation Generators page.
Disciplines such as Chemistry, Engineering, and Nursing employ citation styles specific to their fields. A list of some of these specific citation styles is on the More Citation Styles page. Note: Subject library guides will also include citation information (e.g. Nursing subject guide).
The Academic Integrity and Plagiarism page offers additional resources on academic integrity at ASU, and the ASU Graduate Education page provides guidance on formatting theses and dissertations.
Selecting a Citation Style
Deciding which specific citation style to use depends on several factors:
- What style is most used in the discipline for which you are writing
- What style is recommended or required by your instructor, department, school, or college
- What style is required by the editor, association, or publisher you are submitting work to
Within this guide, you will find specialized resources to help you select the appropriate citation style and craft high-quality citations.
When & Why You Should Cite Sources
When You Should Cite Sources
Cite information that contributed to your thoughts, analysis, or synthesis of ideas. The following are examples of when you must cite your sources:
- Direct quotes of the author’s words that help you make your argument
- Summaries or paraphrases of someone else's thoughts or ideas put into your own words
- Information that may be common knowledge but is unfamiliar to your reader (including statistical information)
- Information you're unsure about citing should be cited to avoid plagiarism
Why You Should Cite Sources
Citations are crucial to include in your research, as they:
- Credit the author of the original work who provided you with the information or idea.
- Allow your audience to identify and find the source material in order to learn about your topic.
- Give your paper more credibility by showing that you support your arguments with high-quality sources.
- Help you avoid plagiarism and show your integrity as a responsible researcher and participant in your field of study.
- Promote academic integrity and good scholarly ethics as you engage with other researchers and colleagues.
Related Library Resources
The ASU Library has developed the following online tutorials in order to help you learn more about properly citing sources:
- Citing Your Sources - This tutorial emphasizes the importance of proper citation in both academic and professional works, introducing various citation styles and helpful tools to guide you through the process.
- APA Citation Style - This tutorial takes a deeper dive into APA citation style and its mechanics.
- MLA Citation Style - This tutorial takes a deeper dive into MLA citation style and its mechanics.
The Citation Management Library Guide introduces you to research with citation management tools like Mendeley, Zotero, and EndNote.
For additional citation style resources, consult the ASU Library's FAQ