How to Cite a Source

Whether you’re writing a paper, creating a PowerPoint presentation, or giving a lecture, you will often need to refer to sources. These can be scholarly books and journal articles, websites or other types of media such as music, video, and audio. However, each type of source has its own citation style and requirements.

Citing Sources

Every time you use information from a source, you must cite that source to give your readers credit for the work. This is done in both the body of your paper and on a reference list or bibliography, depending on your style.

In-text Citations

For your in-text citations, you will want to include the author’s last name, the title of the source, and the date of publication. If the source is a book, you will also need to include the number of pages and if you have consulted a footnote or endnote.

In-text Citations for Print Materials

When you cite print material (books, journals, or papers), most styles call for you to put the location of the source first, followed by the publisher. For example, APA and MLA style call for you to include the city and state where the source was published, or the country and state if it was published outside the United States.

In-text Citations for Online Media

If you are citing an article, website, or other type of online resource, you will need to include the date of publication, the name of the publisher, and the author or compiler (if available). For video or audio sources, you must also provide information about the source’s format and version number.

The formatting for these citations will vary, but you can usually expect them to follow the same basic guidelines as in-text citations for print sources.

Paraphrasing

If a source has a long quote, you may want to paraphrase that quote. This will help you convey the idea or information in a shorter amount of text and still provide credit for the original source.

A paraphrase should not be too similar to the original wording, though. If you are unsure of how to paraphrase, ask your instructor or the style guide for instructions.

Parenthetical Citations

When you cite a source that is important to your ideas, you should include the author’s name and the work from which the quote or paraphrase came. It is best to cite the source in an introduction sentence or a sentence that clearly introduces your citation, so that your reader can see who it comes from and how you have used it.

For sources that are not important to your idea, you may want to consider using footnotes or endnotes. This will ensure that your reader has the correct citation for each source you cite and will eliminate the need to read through all of your references to find the one you’re looking for.

If you are quoting or paraphrasing a large amount of information, you may prefer to use an in-text citation and a bibliography or works cited page. A bibliography or works cited page will provide more comprehensive information about the source, including publication facts and a complete citation of the source.