Citation Style Guides: Citing Sources

The primary purpose for citing sources in a paper is to inform readers where you found information for the paper or document you wrote. With cited sources, it gives an indication of what items you have read, heard, or viewed that led you to the viewpoints that you present. Sources of information are cited for the following reasons:

• To show the work that you did locating information and giving credibility to the document that you wrote or produced.
• To inform the reader exactly where the information was found so that the original items can be found in their entirety
• To give credit to the authors that wrote and/or produced the materials you used to write your paper. By acknowledging other author's words and ideas instead of using them as your own, prevents plagiarism

There are several commonly used styles for citing sources. These style manuals include:

• American Psychological Association (APA)
• American Sociological Association (ASA)
• Modern Language Association (MLA)

In this guide you will find information on citing various types of sources from these styles. Be sure that you know which style manual is required for a particular assignment. If you are not sure, check with your instructor.

Citation Help

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