Recommended Citation Guides
Online Guides
Recommended guides to the MLA and CMS styles.
Print Guides
Print copies of the official CMS and MLA Style Guides are always available for in-library use at the Simpson and Meyer Libraries.
The Chicago Manual of Style by Call Number: Z253 .U69 2017
MLA HandbookCall Number: PE1408 .M53 2016
Citation Styles
Citation Styles
Citation styles define how citations or references are organized and formatted within a paper. The three most commonly used citation styles in higher education include:
- Modern Language Association (MLA) Style: used in literature, arts, humanities, and some other disciplines.
- Chicago Manual of Style (CMS): used most often in history, art, and visual studies. Sometimes referred to as Turabian.
- American Psychological Association (APA) Style: used in social sciences such as anthropology, business, psychology, sociology, and political science.
If you are not sure which one to use, ask your instructor what citation style she or he prefers you to use for your assignments. This guide contains examples of common MLA and CMS citations. For additional examples, download the linked handouts below.
- MLA Citations Quick GuideExample MLA citations for a variety of information sources.
- Chicago Style Citations Quick GuideExample CMS citations for a variety of information sources.
- Image Attribution Quick GuideInformation on image attribution for creative and academic work.
In-text Citations
When writing an academic paper, you need to indicate in your text when you are using the words or ideas of an outside source. This is not only true when you are using exact language but also when you are paraphrasing or summarizing material. Sources can be virtually any form of information you choose to include in a research project: text from books, articles, or websites, images and photographs, audio, video, artworks, or even tweets.
MLA uses parenthetical citations, typically the author's last name and a page number. Quotation marks must be used when you are borrowing exact language (approximately five or more words), but not when you are paraphrasing or summarizing. If you refer to the author in your text, the author's name does not need to be included in the parentheses.
The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) prefers notations -- superscript numbers that denote the use of external sources and refer to corresponding footnotes (at the bottom of the page) or endnotes (at the end of a paper, chapter, or book).
MLA Parenthetical Citation
CMS Note
References
In-text citations need to correspond with a reference entry.
In MLA, the citations are arranged alphabetically by author in a section titled Works Cited. The Works Cited list is typically included on a new page following the main body of the paper.
In CMS, the author chooses to employ either footnotes, appearing in the footer of the same page as the in-text citation, or endnotes, a numerically-ordered list at the end of the paper, chapter, or book. Longer works will also include an alphabetically-ordered bibliography on a new page following the main body of the paper. If you are unsure of whether to use footnotes, endnotes, and/or a bibliography, ask your instructor for their preference.
MLA, 8th edition (2017)
Thackara, John. How to Thrive in the Next Economy: Designing Tomorrow’s World Today.
Thames & Hudson, 2015.
MLA, 7th edition (2009)
Thackara, John. How to Thrive in the Next Economy: Designing Tomorrow’s World Today.
New York, Thames & Hudson, 2015. Print.
Chicago, 17th edition, Notes and Bibliography (2017)
In a footnote/endnote
1. John Thackara, How to Thrive in the Next Economy: Designing Tomorrow’s World Today (New York: Thames & Hudson, 2015), 53.
Subsequent notes
4. Thackara, How to Thrive in the Next Economy, 53.
In a bibliography
Thackara, John. How to Thrive in the Next Economy: Designing Tomorrow’s World Today.
New York: Thames & Hudson, 2015.
MLA, 8th Edition (2016)
Chalabi, Deena. “What is Visual Activism?” Journal of Visual Culture, vol. 15, no. 1,
April 2016, pp. 32-34.
MLA, 7th Edition (2009)
Chalabi, Deena. "What is Visual Activism?" Journal of Visual Culture
15.1 (2016): 32-34. Print.
Chicago, 17th Edition, Notes and Bibliography (2017)
In a footnote/endnote
2. Deena Chalabi, "What is Visual Activism?," Journal of Visual Culture 15, no. 1 (2016): 32.
Subsequent notes
5. Chalabi, "What is Visual Activism?," 32.
In a bibliography
Chalabi, Deena. "What is Visual Activism?" Journal of Visual Culture 15, no. 1
(2016): 32-34.
Note: eBooks and online journal articles should be cited as books or articles, with a DOI or URL when possible.
MLA, 8th Edition (2016)
Westin, Monica. “An Insider’s Guide to Navigating the San Francisco Art Scene.” Artsy,
10 May 2016, https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-an-insider
-s-guide-to-navigating-the-san-francisco-art-scene.
MLA, 7th Edition (2009)
Westin, Monica. “An Insider’s Guide to Navigating the San Francisco Art Scene.” Artsy,
10 May 2016. Web. 30 June 2016.
Chicago, 17th Edition, Notes and Bibliography (2017)
In a footnote/endnote
3. Monica Westin, "An Insider's Guide to Navigating the San Francisco Art Scene," Artsy, May 10, 2016, https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-an-insider-s-guide-to-navigating-the-san-francisco-art-scene.
Subsequent notes
6. Westin, "An Insider's Guide."
In a bibliography
Westin, Monica. "An Insider's Guide to Navigating the San Francisco Art Scene." Artsy,
May 10, 2016. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-an-insider-s-guide-to-
navigating-the-san-francisco-art-scene.
MLA, 8th Edition (2016)
LeWitt, Sol. Wall Drawing 273. 1975, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
MLA, 7th Edition (2009)
LeWitt, Sol. Wall Drawing 273. 1975. Graphite and crayon on seven walls.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco.
Chicago, 17th Edition, Notes and Bibliography (2017)
In a footnote/endnote
7. Sol LeWitt, Wall Drawing 273, 1975, graphite and crayon on seven walls, dimensions variable, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Subsequent notes
9. LeWitt, Wall Drawing 273.
In a bibliography
LeWitt, Sol. Wall Drawing 273, 1975. Graphite and crayon on seven walls,
dimensions variable. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
