How to Cite Sources – APA, MLA, and Chicago
Many writers, researchers, and students take the assistance of already published information to create articles, assignments, analyses, and other pieces of content. The usage of previously published data as it is in your content will leave the marks of plagiarism, and as a result, your credibility will be greatly affected. There are several ways of avoiding plagiarism, among which the best one is to cite sources from where the data has been extracted. Citing sources is basically a way of giving credits to the actual owner or publisher of any idea, textual or visual content. You can save yourself from committing plagiarism and still use the information available over other sources by simply citing their sources with one of the citation styles. In academic writing, citing sources is considered a crucial aspect, and you can follow the popular citation systems to correctly cite your work, which includes APA, MLA, and Chicago. If you wish to learn how to cite sources with these citation systems, then you have landed at the right spot. We will deep dive into the usage of these citation styles in this blog. So, without any further ado, let’s get started!
American Psychological Association (APA)
While using the APA format, the writers need to follow the author-date method of in-text citation. In this method, for each reference, you need to write down the second of an author with its publishing year. For each reference, a complete source should come at the end of the paper in the reference list. The American Psychological Association citation system is mostly used in social sciences subjects, such as psychology, criminal justice, and sociology.
If you are asked to follow this citation style, then it would be essential to provide the cover page and abstract. In this citation style, writers often use a formal structure, which includes specific subheadings. As per the APA guidelines for paraphrasing, it is encouraged to provide the page range to help the reader find information in the longer work.
Modern Language Association (MLA)
The academic writers, mainly in a humanities field, such as Philosophy and English, use the Modern Language Association (MLA) citation style. This citation method emphasizes using exactly the same words as other writers. In MLA, quotes are considered crucial for the proper sourcing of information. One thing that makes MLA different from APA is that it doesn’t require a cover page or abstract from the writers.
While creating the work cited list with respect to Modern Language Association style, the names of authors must be written out completely. The authors’ names should be written out in alphabetic order. This citation method also involves the usage of page numbers in in-text citations to help the readers in easily navigating and locating the quotes and ideas.
Chicago
The Chicago Manual Style has two formats, and they are widely used in a humanities field, such as History. The two types of Chicago citation styles include Author, Date, Notes and Bibliography.
The Author-Date format is mainly used in the science field. In this system, the writers must cite the sources briefly in the text with the author’s last name and year of publication. On the contrary, in the Notes and Bibliography system, the writers need to cite the sources in the numbered footnotes or endnotes. In both formats, the writers can use the title page, but it isn’t the requirement. Subheadings are also not required in the Chicago Manual of Style.
Final Words
Citing sources is crucial for all writers to avoid plagiarism and its negative consequences. You can use one of the citation styles discussed in this blog to properly cite your work as per your teacher’s instructions. Here you can take the assistance of a reliable plagiarism checker that helps you to add citations to your work. Adequate citation is crucial for all academic writers, as they can get failed in a particular subject due to improper citations. Therefore, you should take proper guidelines from your instructors and follow the required citation style to achieve your desired grades.
