Citation Station Online

Citing your sources is important in every context and serves important purposes:

• Gives credit to the work of authors or researchers you are quoting and paraphrasing.
• Guides your reader to the information you used in your own work.
• Establishes your credibility and improves your contribution to scholarly discussions.
• Avoids unintentional plagiarism. Read the Student Handbook's policy on academic dishonesty to see what constitutes plagiarism.

If you are unsure which style to use, ask your professor. It may be indicated in the syllabus, in the assignment guidelines, or they may have no preference. Always use the same citation style throughout the paper or project so your reader can consistently identify and locate your sources. These styles are commonly used by scholars in the given discipline:

• Anthropology — Chicago (Author/Date)
• Archeology — Dr. Johnson: SBL (Society of Biblical Literature)
• Art — Chicago, MLA (Modern Language Association)
• Astronomy and Physics — AIP (American Institute of Physics)
• Biology — CSE (Counsel of Science Editors)
• Business — Chicago
• Chemistry — ACS (American Chemical Society)
• Computer Science — ACM (Association for Computing Machinery)
• Corporate Communication — APA (American Psychological Association)
• Criminal Justice — APA (American Psychological Association)
• Economics — Chicago, APA (American Psychological Association)
• Education — APA (American Psychological Association)
• English — MLA (Modern Language Association)
• History — Turabian
• Languages — MLA (Modern Language Association)
• Math — APA
• Music — Turabian or MLA (Modern Language Association)
• Philosophy — Ask your professor
• Political Science — APSA
• Psychology — APA (American Psychological Association)
• Religion — Dr. Johnson & Dr. Knauth: SBL (Society of Biblical Literature). Dr. Heyes: Chicago or MLA.
• Sociology — ASA (American Sociological Association)
• Theatre — MLA (Modern Language Association)

What are citation managers?

Citation managers are tools that help you collect, organize, and cite your sources. They can also be used for team research projects to share citations and organize them in a single place. Remember that those tools are helpful, but not perfect. Check the citations they generate for mistakes!

Which one should I use?

You can use any citation manager you are comfortable with, like Zotero, EndNote, or Mendeley. We recommend Zotero: you can create a free account, download Zotero and install an MS Word add-in and a browser connector. Contact a Librarian or use the quick guide below to get started (credits: Jason Puckett at Georgia State University Library).

Just need a quick bibliography?

ZoteroBib will quickly generate a citation or bibliography. Choose your citation style and paste in a DOI, Title, or another identifier to create your bibliography.