On this page:
Introduction
Academic writing, whether theses, assignments, reports or scholarly articles, often involves summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting sources of information that need to be cited. Knowing how to cite another person's work properly helps you to:
- give credit and acknowledge their ideas
- direct readers to the sources on which your research is based
- avoid plagiarism
Citation Resources
Citing sources manually can be very time intensive. Citation management software can help save you time by formatting in-text citations and bibliographies for you in the citation style of your choice. In addition to being a great tool for academic writing, citation managers can also help you collect, organize, and annotate information sources for other purposes.
Citing and Citation Managers
This video can give you a quick introduction to citing and citation managers
Citation styles
Citation styles are a set of rules or standards established by a specific society, association, or publisher for documenting various sources of information.
These sources of information may include journal publications, books, thesis, online sources, unpublished manuscripts, magazines, etc. Detailed descriptions of the citation styles (often known as Style Manuals or Publication Manuals) can be found on the websites of those societies, associations or publishers who set and maintain the citation standards.
Styles may be revised from time to time in which case new or up-dated Manuals are released. It is a good practice to consult the original Publication Manuals for updates.
Different disciplines use different citation styles therefore it is important to know which citation style is most popular in your discipline.
Ask your instructor which citation styles you should use in your assignments.
- See the online APA Style official site – format & reference guidelines
- APA Style citation examples
- APA Format (Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University)
- APA style & citations for dummies (ebook)
- Citing tables, figures & images (APA 7) (SFU Library)
- See print versions of APA Style guide
- Social Media – APA Style
- See print versions of ASA Style guide
- ASA Style and Reference Guide (Department of Sociology, Queen's University)
- ASA Format (OWL at Purdue University)
Formerly CBE and used in biology and other natural science disciplines.
- See print versions of CSE Style guide
- CSE Citation Guide (Washington State University)
Widely used in the humanities and social science, and history in particular
Harvard is a style of referencing primarily used by university students to cite information resources
- Harvard System (University Library, Anglia Ruskin University, UK)
- Harvard Citations (University Library, University of Leeds, UK)
- Harvard Citation Style (Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library, George Washington University)
Commonly used in Engineering especially in Electrical and Computer Engineering
- IEEE Citation Reference A guide in PDF from Bath University that provides an overview of IEEE Citation Style Components to be used as a quick reference.
- IEEE Editorial Style Manual The IEEE Style Manual (2020) includes information on the consistent use of: punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations, section headings, numbers, equations, footnotes, references, and biographies.
- IEEE Style Guide with examples (Murdoch University)
Used in literature, arts, and the humanities
- MLA Handbook Plus
- See print versions of MLA guide
- MLA Format (OWL at Purdue University)
- Social Media – MLA Style
Used in many disciplines in humanities, social sciences, and sciences and is a variation of the Chicago style
- See print versions of Turabian Style guide versions
- Turabian Quick Guide (University of Chicago Press)
Used in the health sciences disciplines
Special formats of material
The following guide will help you cite business sources in APA style:
The following guide will help you cite ChatGPT in APA, Chicago and MLA styles:
The following guides provide citation examples for data and statistics:
- How to Cite Statistics Canada Products (Statistics Canada)
- Data Citation: APA 7 Style Guide (University of Ottawa Library)
- Data Citation (Cornell University Research Data Management Service Group)
- ICPSR
The following guides provide general citation examples for different types of government publications and are intended to supplement, not replace, standard citation manuals such as Chicago, MLA, etc.
- Brief Guide to Citing Canadian Government Documents and Statistics (QUL)
- How to Cite Statistics Canada Products (Statistics Canada)
- How to Cite Government Publications - Research Guide (McMaster University Libraries)
- Citing Canadian Government Documents - APA Style (SFU Library)
The most well-known citation guide for Canadian legal materials is the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (better known as the "McGill Guide"):
- Access the 10th edition of the McGill Guide (available in print or online)
- View the library's Legal Citation Guide, which includes a free interactive tutorial
The Canadian Open Access Legal Citation Guide (COAL) is another option for legal citation. It is freely available online:
- Access the COAL Guide on CanLII
- Best Practices in Citation of Cartographic Materials (PDF from ACMLA)
- Citing Maps & Geospatial Data (Ontario Council of University Libraries)
- How to Reference Geospatial Data, Maps, Atlases, Air photos (PDF from Brock University)
- A Guide for Music Citation - Chicago/Turabian Style (Indiana University Music Library)