11/6/23, 5:58 PM How to Cite Sources | Citation Generator & Quick Guide

How to Cite Sources | Citation

Generator & Quick Guide
Citing your sources is essential in academic writing. Whenever you
quote or paraphrase a source (such as a book, article, or
webpage), you have to include a citation crediting the original
author.

Failing to properly cite your sources counts as plagiarism, since

you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

The most commonly used citation styles are APA and MLA. The
free Scribbr Citation Generator is the quickest way to cite sources
in these styles. Simply enter the URL, DOI, or title, and we’ll
generate an accurate, correctly formatted citation.

Generate accurate citations with Scribbr

Citation style Cite a webpage, book, article, and more
APA 7th edition Search by title, URL, DOI, ISBN or k
Cite

Cite with Chrome NEW Cite manually

 Table of contents

1. When do you need to cite sources?

2. Which citation style should you use?
3. In-text citations
4. Reference lists and bibliographies
5. Scribbr Citation Generator
6. Other useful citation tools
7. Citation examples and full guides
8. Frequently asked questions about citing sources

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When do you need to cite sources?

Citations are required in all types of academic texts. They are
needed for several reasons:

 To avoid plagiarism by indicating when you’re taking

information from another source
 To give proper credit to the author of that source
 To allow the reader to consult your sources for themselves

A citation is needed whenever you integrate a source into your

writing. This usually means quoting or paraphrasing:

To quote a source, copy a short piece of text word for word

and put it inside quotation marks.
To paraphrase a source, put the text into your own words. It’s
important that the paraphrase is not too close to the original
wording. You can use the paraphrasing tool if you don’t want
to do this manually.

Citations are needed whether you quote or paraphrase, and

whatever type of source you use. As well as citing scholarly
sources like books and journal articles, don’t forget to include
citations for any other sources you use for ideas, examples, or
evidence. That includes websites, YouTube videos, and lectures.

Note

You usually don’t need to cite common knowledge. This is

information that you can assume most people know, such as
the fact that Tokyo is the capital city of Japan.

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Which citation style should you use?

Usually, your institution (or the journal you’re submitting to) will
require you to follow a specific citation style, so check your
guidelines or ask your instructor.

In some cases, you may have to choose a citation style for yourself.
Make sure to pick one style and use it consistently:

APA Style is widely used in the social sciences and beyond.

MLA style is common in the humanities.
Chicago style consists of two systems:
Chicago notes and bibliography, common in the
humanities
Chicago author-date, used in the (social) sciences

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There are many other citation styles for different disciplines.

If in doubt, check with your instructor or read other papers from

your field of study to see what style they follow.

See our APA vs. MLA article for a comparison of two of the
most popular styles. You can also use the interactive tool
below to explore the format for various source types in both
styles.

APA (7th ed.) Book

2nd edition 1 author

No locator

Reference entry
Smith, T. (2020). The citation manual for students: A
quick guide (2nd ed.). Wiley.

In-text citation
Parenthetical: (Smith, 2020)
N ti S ith (2020)

In most styles, your citations consist of:

Brief in-text citations at the relevant points in the text

A reference list or bibliography containing full information on
all the sources you’ve cited

In-text citations
In-text citations most commonly take the form of parenthetical
citations featuring the last name of the source’s author and its year
of publication (aka author-date citations).

Example: Parenthetical citation (APA)

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Evolution is a gradual process that “can act only by very

short and slow steps” (Darwin, 1859, p. 510).

An alternative to this type of in-text citation is the system used in

numerical citation styles, where a number is inserted into the text,
corresponding to an entry in a numbered reference list.

Example: Numerical citation (Vancouver)

Evolution is a gradual process that “can act only by very

short and slow steps” (1, p. 510).

There are also note citation styles, where you place your citations
in either footnotes or endnotes. Since they’re not embedded in the
text itself, these citations can provide more detail and sometimes
aren’t accompanied by a full reference list or bibliography.

Example: Note citation (Chicago)

Evolution is a gradual process that “can act only by very

short and slow steps.”1

1. Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species (London: John Murray, 1859), 510.

Note

Some special Latin terms are also used in in-text citations,

such as “et al.” (used for multiple authors) and “ibid.” (used
for repeated citations).

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Reference lists and bibliographies

A reference list (aka “Bibliography” or “Works Cited,” depending on
the style) is where you provide full information on each of the
sources you’ve cited in the text. It appears at the end of your
paper, usually with a hanging indent applied to each entry.

The information included in reference entries is broadly similar,

whatever citation style you’re using. For each source, you’ll
typically include the:

Author name
Title
Publication date
Container (e.g., the book an essay was published in, the
journal an article appeared in)
Publisher
Location (e.g., a URL or DOI, or sometimes a physical
location)

The exact information included varies depending on the source

type and the citation style. The order in which the information
appears, and how you format it (e.g., capitalization, use of italics)
also varies.

Most commonly, the entries in your reference list are alphabetized

by author name. This allows the reader to easily find the relevant
entry based on the author name in your in-text citation.

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In numerical citation styles, the entries in your reference list are

numbered, usually based on the order in which you cite them. The
reader finds the right entry based on the number that appears in
the text.

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Scribbr Citation Generator

Because each style has many small differences regarding things
like italicization, capitalization, and punctuation, it can be difficult
to get every detail right. Using a citation generator can save you a
lot of time and effort.

Scribbr offers citation generators for both APA and MLA style. Both
are quick, easy to use, and 100% free, with no ads and no
registration required.

Just input a URL or DOI or add the source details manually, and the
generator will automatically produce an in-text citation and
reference entry in the correct format. You can save your reference

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list as you go and download it when you’re done, and even add
annotations for an annotated bibliography.

Scribbr Citation Generator

Other useful citation tools

Once you’ve prepared your citations, you might still be unsure if
they’re correct and if you’ve used them appropriately in your text.
This is where Scribbr’s other citation tools and services may come
in handy:

Plagiarism Checker
Citation Checker
Citation Editing

Plagiarism Checker
Plagiarism means passing off someone else’s words or ideas as
your own. It’s a serious offense in academia. Universities use
plagiarism checking software to scan your paper and identify any
similarities to other texts.

When you’re dealing with a lot of sources, it’s easy to make

mistakes that could constitute accidental plagiarism. For example,
you might forget to add a citation after a quote, or paraphrase a
source in a way that’s too close to the original text.

Using a plagiarism checker yourself before you submit your work

can help you spot these mistakes before they get you in trouble.
Based on the results, you can add any missing citations and
rephrase your text where necessary.

Try out the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker for free, or check out our
detailed comparison of the best plagiarism checkers available
online.

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Scribbr Plagiarism Checker

Citation Checker
Scribbr’s Citation Checker is a unique AI-powered tool that
automatically detects stylistic errors and inconsistencies in your in-
text citations. It also suggests a correction for every mistake.

Currently available for APA Style, this is the fastest and easiest way
to make sure you’ve formatted your citations correctly. You can try
out the tool for free below.

Citation Checker

Citation Editing
If you need extra help with your reference list, we also offer a more
in-depth Citation Editing Service.

Our experts cross-check your in-text citations and reference

entries, make sure you’ve included the correct information for each
source, and improve the formatting of your reference page.

Citation Editing

Citation examples and full guides

If you want to handle your citations yourself, Scribbr’s free
Knowledge Base provides clear, accurate guidance on every
aspect of citation. You can see citation examples for a variety of
common source types below:

 Book
 Journal article
 Newspaper article

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 Website
 YouTube video
 Wikipedia

 Image
 Interview
 Lecture

And you can check out our comprehensive guides to the most
popular citation styles:

APA
MLA
Chicago
Harvard
Vancouver
MHRA
OSCOLA

Frequently asked questions about citing

sources

When do I need to cite sources? 

When should I use “et al.” in citations? 

Which citation software does Scribbr use? 

Who uses APA Style? 

Who uses MLA style? 

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Is this article helpful?

234 137

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6 How to Cite a Book | APA, MLA, & Chicago Examples

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9 How to Cite a Newspaper Article | MLA, APA &

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10 How to Cite a Website | MLA, APA & Chicago

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11 How to Cite a Wikipedia Article | APA, MLA & Chicago

12 How to Cite a YouTube Video | MLA, APA & Chicago

13 How to Cite an Image | Photographs, Figures,

Diagrams

14 How to Cite an Interview | APA, MLA & Chicago Style

15 Parenthetical Citation | APA, MLA & Chicago Examples

16 The Basics of In-Text Citation | APA & MLA Examples

17 What Are Endnotes? | Guide with Examples

18 What Are Footnotes? | Guide with Word Instructions

19 What Does Ibid. Mean? | Definition & Examples

20 What is a DOI? | Finding and Using Digital Object

Identifiers

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21 What Is an Annotated Bibliography? | Examples &

Format

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