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HON: Honors College Program: Citation Style Guides

This guide was created to support undergraduates doing research through the Honors College program.

What Citation Format Should I Use?

The citation style that you use should reflect the field in which you are doing your research. Below is a list of the four most common citation styles and fields they are most commonly used in. This is not an exhaustive list. Please check with your advisor before committing to a citation style. If you need help with your citation style, please visit the Center for Academic Excellence listed below, left.

  • APA (American Psychology Association): The APA style is most commonly used in the fields of Business, Communication, Criminal Justice, Education, Psychology, Public Administration, and Social Work. It is also sometimes used in the sciences.
  • MLA (Modern Language Association): The MLA style is most commonly used in the fields of English, Film, Languages, Philosophy, Religion and Theater. It is sometimes used in other fields as well.
  • Chicago (Chicago Manual of Style): a quick note, the Chicago style has two versions, notes and bibliography and author-date. Double check with your advisor which you should be using. The Chicago style is most commonly used in the fields of Anthropology, Art, Dance, Economics, Geography, History, and Music. It is also sometimes used in Business, Computer Science, Criminal Justice, Mathematics, Statistics, and Theater.
  • IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers): The IEEE style is most commonly used in the fields of Engineering. A good explanation of the IEEE style is here.

Below are some less well-known styles.

 

USA Center for Academic Excellence

If you need help with citations, visit the USA Center for Academic Excellence. Consultations are free. The tutors can go through your paper with you to make sure your citations are correct.

Citation Generation

There are online sites to help create citations. Please be aware, that these sites are not perfect ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK YOUR CITATIONS if you have used an online generator.

 

Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) can help with paper formatting and citation guidance for several different styles. You can start on their homepage by clicking on the image below. Choose the style of citation to get started.

Citation Machine has a wide variety of formats for citations. You do not need to pay for an account only to use their citation creation tools. You can start by choosing your citation style by clicking on the image below.

 

ZoteroBib has the largest variety of citation styles in this list. You have to choose your preferred style from a drop-down menu. You will need to search for a style that is not one of the most common four styles. Click on the image below to get started.