How do I...?

It may seem like citing your sources is tedious, but it's important and there are many reasons to do it. Attributing and documenting your sources:

• Helps you avoid plagiarizing.
• Allows the reader to find your research sources. Think of citations as footprints leading the reader through some of the steps you took to reach your conclusions.
• Provides evidence for your arguments and adds credibility to your work by demonstrating that you have sought out and considered a variety of viewpoints on a given topic.
• Is standard practice for scholars and students engaged in written academic conversations. By citing your sources, you demonstrate that you are responding to this person, agreeing with that person, adding something to what so-and-so said and so forth.

Source:  http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/col/bruinsuccess/03/02.cfm

Cline Library's How to Cite Sources and Avoid Plagiarism guide offers more instruction on citation, plagiarism, and citation generators.

The AMA (American Medical Association) format is used in medicine and many of the health sciences. For a comprehensive resource on AMA citation formatting, see the AMA Manual of Style.

Or, use the following quick guides for examples of the most common formats:

• AMA Guide (James Madison University)
• AMA Style Guide (University of Washington)

APA (American Psychological Association) format is commonly used in the social sciences. Consult these online guides for detailed examples:

• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
• APA Citation Style (Cornell University)

Chicago format is typically used in history and some other humanities disciplines.

There are two types of Chicago format:

• The author-date style uses parenthetical citations. Brief citation information is placed in parentheses located directly after the quoted or paraphrased information. Full citation information is placed in the bibliography or list of references at the end of the document.
• The note-bibliography (NB) style uses footnotes (at the bottom of the page) or endnotes (at the end of the document).

Both styles are explained in detail in the Chicago Manual of Style Online.

CSE (Coucil of Science Editors) format is commonly used in the sciences. Consult these online guides for detailed examples:

• The Writers Handbook CSE Documentation Guide (UW)
• The Writing Studio (CSU)

MLA (Modern Language Association) format is commonly used in the humanities, except for history. Consult these online guides for detailed examples:

• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
• The Writers Handbook MLA Documentation Guide