How to Cite Sources
When writing academic papers, research papers, or research articles, we need to back our statements with facts, studies, and statistics. We cannot create this factual information on our own, so we need to use authentic resources and create citations. While writing research essays is a challenge, creating citations comes with a higher level of difficulty, and many students cannot do so. If you are struggling to cite sources, here is how you can do it. First, you need to understand that you need to include a citation as proof of the source whenever you are referring to someone else’s work or quoting them. Not only does it add weightage to the research essay, but it also helps in avoiding plagiarism. There are different writing styles, and each has a unique way of creating citations. For APA format, use the author-date method of in-text citation. It includes the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text. One complete reference for each source should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper. Talking about the MLA format, we use the parenthetical citations. The method is about providing relevant source information in parentheses whenever a sentence uses a quotation or paraphrase. For IEEE, use bracketed numbers to create in-text citations. For the ASA writing style, you have to use the author's last name and publication year.
Print Books
Use the templates below to practice writing MLA citations for books. Fill in the blanks. Then, below each template, write the citation in the space provided.
Anthologies and Encyclopedias
Use the templates below to practice writing MLA citations for anthologies and encyclopedias.
In-Text Citations for Embedded Quotes
Embed part of each quotation below into a sentence, then add the appropriate citation after your sentence that contains the embedded quote. Use the source information provided. If needed, make up the page number.
Would You Cite the Source?
Are quotation marks needed in this sentence? If so, rewrite it to include quotation marks?
Books As Sources
Use the template below to keep track of the information that you will use for your bibliography. Use as many of the author lines as needed and leave the rest blank.
Websites as Sources
It also gives proper credit to other writers and researchers for their ideas.
Newspaper Article in an Online Database
A slightly tilted format for you to work with.
Magazine Article from an Online Database
A twist on something we have already explored.
