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This tutorial is an introduction to citing sources, including citation styles, citation information, and formatting citations. Citations are a way to acknowledge when you use someone else’s words or ideas. Using someone else’s words or ideas without including a citation is a form of plagiarism, and can be considered academic misconduct.
There are many different citation styles! Each discipline tends to use one or two citation styles, though it can vary. The most popular citation styles are:
There are also citation styles that are designed for specific disciplines, such as:
These are just general guidelines, and some disciplines and courses will choose different styles from those listed above. If you’re not sure which citation style to choose, ask your instructor.
While each citation style is a little bit different—from how the author’s name is represented, to where the date of publication appears—most citations will include the following information:
Some citation styles will require additional information, such as the date you accessed the material, or the name of the publisher, so it’s a good idea to gather as much information as you can, just in case.
With so many citation styles, it can be challenging to remember what goes where (including all those commas and periods). To help you, the Libraries provide support for several citation managers that can make creating citations and reference lists, and switching from one style to another, much easier. Check out these resources to get started:
Want to learn more about citing sources? Check out the Introduction to Plagiarism tutorial.