Citation Styles Overview

There are many different "styles," or ways of formatting, your citations. Different disciplines use different styles. (Read more about when to use different styles. Links to an external site.)

The tabs on this page contain an overview of the MLA and APA citation styles. From reading this information you will get a general understanding of how they work. Naturally, for your class assignment you should follow the format your instructor has assigned. If you have any questions about how to cite a source or format using a specific citation style, ask a librarian Links to an external site.!

Basics of MLA Style

	Book: Author last name, First name. Title of Book Capitalized and Italicized. Place of Publication: Publisher, Date. Print.
	Academic Article: Author last name, First name. "Title of Article Capitalized and in Quotes." Title of Journal Capitalized and Italicized Volume Number.Issue Number (Date): Page begin-page end. Print.
	Newspaper Article: Author last name, First name. "Title of Article Capitalized and in Quotes." Title of Newspaper Capitalized and Italicized Day of Publication Month Abbreviated Year: SectionPage. Print.
	Magazine Article: Author last name, First name. "Title of Article Capitalized and in Quotes." Title of Magazine Capitalized and Italicized Day of Publication Month Abbreviated Year: Page. Print.
	Online/Electronic Articles: The format is the same as shown above except for the addition of a brief statement with more information about online access to the end of your citation. This includes the following information provided immediately after the page numbers: Name of Database in which Article was Located. Web. Date Day Month Abbr. Year.
	Video/Audio: Title of audio/video. Director (abbreviated as Dir.). Distributor, year of release. Format (DVD, videocassette, etc.).
	Film/Movie: Title of Work. Dir. Firstname Lastname. Perf. Firstname Lastname. Studio/Distributor. Original Release Year. Medium.
	Web Site/Page: Author, editor, or creator of site (if known). "Title of Article Capitalized and in Quotes." Title of Larger Site (if relevant). Name of Sponsoring or Publishing Organization (if none is listed use appreviation n.P. (no publisher)) Day of Publication Month Abbr. Year. Web. Date of Access Day Month Abbr. Year. <URL of website/page>

Basics of APA Style

	Book: Author, F. I. (Year of Publication). Title italicized and lowercase after the first word except for proper nouns and adjectives and subheadings. Place of publication: Publisher.
	Academic Article: Author, F. I. (Year of Publication). Title: Lowercase after the first word except for proper nouns and adjectives and subheadings. Journal Name Capitalized and Italicized, Volume number italicized(issue number), first page-last page.
	Newspaper Article: Author, F. I. (Year of Publication, Month and date of publication). Title: Lowercase after the first word except for proper nouns and adjectives and subheadings. Newspaper Name Capitalized and Italicized, pp. section number (if available)first page.
	Magazine Article: Author, F. I. (Year of Publication, Month and date of publication or season of publication). Title: Lowercase after the first word except for proper nouns and adjectives and subheadings. Magazine Name Capitalized and Italicized, Volume number italicized, first page-last page.
	Online/Electronic Articles: The format is the same as shown above except for the addition of the DOI after the page numbers. If the article is not assigned a DOI, include the journal homepage web address (URL) preceded by "Retrieved from." If this information is not available, include the holding database home or entry page web address (URL) preceded by "Retrieved from."
	Video/Audio: Author, F. I. (Year of Publication, Month and date of publication). Title: Lowercase after the first word except for proper nouns and adjectives and subheadings [Type of media]. Note: If video/audio is retrieved online, include the web address (URL) preceded by "Retrieved from."
	Film/Movie: 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 the movie or video 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)
	Web Site/Page: Author, F. I. (Year of Publication). Title: Lowercase after the first word except for proper nouns and adjectives and subheadings. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL of website.
	Interview/Email/Other Personal Communication (In-text only): (F. I. Author, personal communication, date) Note: Personal communications are not included in your reference list; instead, include a parenthetical in-text citation only.

Examples of APA Style

	Book: Shotten, M. A. (1989). Computer addiction? A study of computer dependency. London, England: Taylor & Francis.
	Book chapter: Haybron, D. M. (2008). Philosophy and the science of subjective well-being. In M. Eid & R.J. Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 17-43). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
	Reference book: VandenBos, G. R. (Ed.). (2007). APA dictionary of psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
	E-book, electronic version of print book: Shotten, M. A. (1989). Computer addiction? A study of computer dependency. [Adobe Digital Editions version]. doi:10.1036/0071393722
	Journal article with DOI: Herbst-Damm, K. L., & Kulik, J. A. (2005). Volunteer support, marital status, and the survival times of terminally ill patients. Health Psychology, 24, 225-229. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225
	Journal article without DOI (when DOI is not available): Sillick, T. J., & Schutte, N. S. (2006). Emotional intelligence and self-esteem mediate between perceived early parental love and adult happiness. E-journal of Applied Psychology, 2(2), 38-48. Retrieved from http://ojs.lib.swin.edu.au/index.php/ejap
	Entry in an online reference work: Graham, G. (2005). Behaviorism. In E.N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Fall 2007 ed.). Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism/
	Entry in an online reference work, no author or editor: Heuristic. (n.d.) In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (11th ed.). Retrieved from http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/heuristic
	Web page: Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderland, L., & Brizee, A. (2010, May 5). General format. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
	Web page, no date: PETA. (n.d.) Animal cruelty statistics. Retrieved February 7, 2007, from http://www.peta.org/media/factsheet/animalcruelty.htm Note: If the website has several pages, list the url of the first page
	Film/Movie: Bender, L. (Producer), & Tarantino, Q. (Director). (1994). Pulp fiction [Motion picture]. United States: Miramax.