What are citations?
What do citations include?
Why do we cite sources?
What should you cite?
MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.
If you are asked to use MLA format, be sure to consult a copy of MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, located in McQuade Library's reference collection:
MLA Handbook by
The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) is the gold standard for online tools to teach you about citations and formatting.
From the website you can learn to:
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association describes the rules used to write papers following APA style. This style is commonly used in psychology, sociology, business, economics, nursing, social work, and criminology.
Information about using APA style can be found in the following places:
No personal communication is included in your reference list; instead, parenthetically cite the communicator's name, the phrase "personal communication," and the date of the communication in your main text only.
Basic reference list format:
Producer, P. P. (Producer), & Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of publication). Title of motion picture [Motion picture]. Country of origin: Studio or distributor.
Note: If a movie or video tape is not available in wide distribution, add the following to your citation after the country of origin: (Available from Distributor name, full address and zip code).
Smith, J. D. (Producer), & Smithee, A. F. (Director). (2001). Really big disaster movie [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.
Harris, M. (Producer), & Turley, M. J. (Director). (2002). Writing labs: A history [Motion picture]. (Available from Purdue University Pictures, 500 Oval Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907)
Writer, W. W. (Writer), & Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of broadcast or copyright). Title of broadcast [Television broadcast or Television series]. In P. Producer (Producer). City, state of origin: Studio or distributor.
Writer, W. W. (Writer), & Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of publication). Title of episode [Television series episode]. In P. Producer (Producer), Series title. City, state of origin: Studio or distributor.
Wendy, S. W. (Writer), & Martian, I. R. (Director). (1986). The rising angel and the falling ape [Television series episode]. In D. Dude (Producer), Creatures and monsters. Los Angeles, CA: Belarus Studios.
Important, I. M. (Producer). (1990, November 1). The nightly news hour [Television broadcast]. New York, NY: Central Broadcasting Service.
Bellisario, D. L. (Producer). (1992). Exciting action show [Television series]. Hollywood, CA: American Broadcasting Company.
Songwriter, W. W. (Date of copyright). Title of song [Recorded by artist if different from song writer]. On Title of album [Medium of recording]. Location: Label. (Recording date if different from copyright date).
Taupin, B. (1975). Someone saved my life tonight [Recorded by Elton John]. On Captain fantastic and the brown dirt cowboy [CD]. London, England: Big Pig Music Limited.