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ECI 771: Curriculum and Instruction in Higher Education

Citation managers & generators

Citation Managers

Citation managers collect, organize and store citations for you. They are great for large papers with lots of references or for individuals who enjoy staying organized.  These tools are not always accurate so always double-check your citation.

Citation Generators

Citation generators will format a reference for you into a specific citation style. They only do one citation at a time and do not save or organize your references. Great for individuals writing shorter papers. These tools are not always accurate so always double-check your citation.

Citing sources in APA

To cite your sources in APA, you first need to understand the anatomy of a citation.

An article citation might look this:

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages.

Pickering, G. J. (2009). Optimizing the sensory characteristics and acceptance of canned cat food: Use of a human taste panel. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition, 93(1), 52-60.

A citation for a book might look like this:

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.

Mayr, E. (1982). The growth of biological thought: Diversity, evolution and inheritance. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press

A citation for an article or chapter in an edited book might look like this:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of publication). Title of chapter. In A. A. Editor & B. B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pages of chapter). Location: Publisher.

O'Brien, C. (2005). Drug addiction and drug abuse. In L. B. Brunton, J. S. Lazo, & K. L. Parker (Eds.), Goodman & Gilman's The pharmacological basis of therapeutics (11th ed., pp.607-629). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Different types of publications (articles, books, conference papers, book chapters, edited books, etc.) include different elements. The elements required for a particular type of citation are those that allow a reader to find the source you cited.