cite lecture in essay

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How to Cite Lecture Notes

Last Updated: July 27, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was reviewed by Gerald Posner and by wikiHow staff writer, Jennifer Mueller, JD . Gerald Posner is an Author & Journalist based in Miami, Florida. With over 35 years of experience, he specializes in investigative journalism, nonfiction books, and editorials. He holds a law degree from UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley. He’s the author of thirteen books, including several New York Times bestsellers, the winner of the Florida Book Award for General Nonfiction, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History. He was also shortlisted for the Best Business Book of 2020 by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 138,694 times.

In some research papers, you may want to reference lecture notes or other handouts from a course or workshop. The point of the citation is to enable your readers to locate the material you referenced in your paper. For lecture notes, this may require contacting the lecturer. While all citations include generally the same information, the format will differ depending on whether you're using the Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), or Chicago citation style.

• Example: Kent, Clark.
• If you're using your own notes from the lecture as a reference, your citation should be to the lecture itself, not to your personal notes. So you'd still use the instructor's name as the "author" of the lecture.

• Example: Kent, Clark. "Superheroes in the 21st Century."
• If the lecture doesn't have a specific title, provide a brief, general description of the topic of the lecture.

• Example: Kent, Clark. "Superheroes in the 21st Century." Political Science 230, 27 Feb. 2018, Metropolis University.
• If you're citing a course handout, place the name of the college or university immediately after the name of the course, followed by a period. Use the word "Received" and then provide the date you received the handout in day-month-year format, followed by a period. For example: Kent, Clark. "Superheroes in the 21st Century." Political Science 230, Metropolis University. Received 27 Feb. 2018.

• Lecture example: Kent, Clark. "Superheroes in the 21st Century." Political Science 230, 27 Feb. 2018. Metropolis University. Lecture.
• Handout example: Kent, Clark. "Superheroes in the 21st Century." Political Science 230, Metropolis University. Received 27 Feb. 2018. Class handout.
• Slide presentation example: Kent, Clark. "Superheroes in the 21st Century." Political Science 230, 27 Feb. 2018. Metropolis University. Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation.

• Example with slide number: (Kent, slide 5).
• Example without page or slide number: (Kent).
• If you're citing the lecture itself and working off of your own lecture notes, do not use page numbers.

• Example: Lane, L.

• Example: Lane, L. (2018).

• Example: Lane, L. (2018). POLS 230: Alternative Approaches to Crime Fighting, week 6 notes

• Example: Lane, L. (2018). POLS 230: Alternative Approaches to Crime Fighting, week 6 notes [lecture notes].

• Example: Lane, L. (2018). POLS 230: Alternative Approaches to Crime Fighting, week 6 notes [lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://library.mu.edu./search/r?SEARCH=pols230

• Example: (Lane, 2018).
• For quotes, include a slide number or page number if available. For example: (Lane, 2018, slide 7).

• Example: Kent, Clark. "Superheroes in the 21st Century." Class lecture, Alternative Approaches to Crime Fighting, Metropolis University, Metropolis, New York, February 27, 2018.

• Example: Clark Kent, "Superheroes in the 21st Century" (class lecture, Alternative Approaches to Crime Fighting, Metropolis University, Metropolis, New York, February 27, 2018).

Community Q&A

• When using parenthetical in-text citations, only include information in the parenthetical that has not already appeared in the text. If you use the instructor's name in the text, you don't need to include their name in the parenthetical citation. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• For some types of research projects, lecture notes may not be considered an acceptable source. If you can't find source that provides similar information, discuss the matter with your instructor or supervisor before using them. [10] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://columbiacollege-ca.libguides.com/apa/classnotes
• ↑ https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/APA/lecture
• ↑ https://researchguides.njit.edu/ieee-citation/lecturenotes
• ↑ https://www.library.mun.ca/researchtools/guides/citations/turabianstyle/notes-bibliography/other/
• ↑ https://ecu.au.libguides.com/referencing/in-text-citations
• ↑ https://www.strose.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Citing-a-Class-Lecture1.pdf
• ↑ https://politics.ucsc.edu/undergraduate/chicago%20style%20guide.pdf
• ↑ https://morlingcollege.libguides.com/c.php?g=392518&p=2666537

About This Article

To cite lecture notes using APA style, start with the last name of the author of the notes, followed by a comma, then the first letter of their first name, followed by a period. Next, include the year the notes were taken in parentheses before writing the title of the presentation in italics. For example, you could write, Lay, L. (2018). POLS 230: Alternative Approaches to Crime Fighting. Then, describe the type of document you're referring to in square brackets, such as a slide presentation or lecture notes. For tips on how to use in-text citations and how to use MLA or Chicago styles, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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APA Citation Style, 7th edition: Lecture/PPT

• General Style Guidelines
• One Author or Editor
• Two Authors or Editors
• Three to Five Authors or Editors
• Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
• Article in a Reference Book
• Edition other than the First
• Translation
• Government Publication
• Journal Article with 1 Author
• Journal Article with 2 Authors
• Journal Article with 3–20 Authors
• Journal Article 21 or more Authors
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Basic Web Page
• Web page from a University site
• Web Page with No Author
• Entry in a Reference Work
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• Electronic Image
• Twitter/Instagram
• Lecture/PPT
• Conferences
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• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Formatting Your Paper

How to cite from Blackboard?

If you retrieved lecture documents (not a journal article or an item available freely online) through a password protected portal such as Blackboard, you should not include the long URL from the Blackboard entry, instead use the homepage of Blackboard (i.e. Blackboard website: http://blackboard.gwu.edu).

NOTE: When citing online lecture notes, provide the file format in brackets after the lecture title (e.g. [PowerPoint], [PDF] documents).

WRONG: Frank, B. (2015). Lecture 4: Psychophysiology [PowerPoint slides]. https://blackboard.gwu.edu/webapps/blackboard/content  listContent.jsp?course_id=_241832_1&content_id=_6002642_1

Important Note: This format would be used if you were citing a set of notes and/or documents from a lecture (e.g. PDF, Excel, Word document, or PowerPoint slides provided by your instructor).

Tip : Cite information from your own personal notes from a lecture as personal communication and refer to it only in the body of your essay. Follow the format examples for a personal communication available under the Interview section.

General Format

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):

(Author Surname, Year)

In-Text Citation (Quotation):

References:

Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Lecture title [Format]. URL of website.

(Smith, 2010)

Butera, G. (2017). Lecture 4: Demystifying APA citation [PowerPoint slides]. George Washington University Introduction to Public Health Services Blackboard: http://blackboard.gwu.edu

What are the APA rules for citing references in PPT?

APA has rules to support clear and concise writing and attribution of work but there are areas where they do not have a specific rule - and PowerPoint is one of them.

See: APA Blog " Dear Professor...Your Students Have Questions We Can't Answer"

So how to include references in PPT?  Use the following best practices but please note you should ALWAYS check with your instructor on their APA citation style preferences for PPT.

Question : Should I include my references on each slide or at the end of the PPT?

• Answer: If you include your references on each slide your slide may become too busy with too much text.  This can be distracting to your audience. 
• Best Practice: Consider adding an in-text citation on the slide and include all of your references at the end of the PPT presentation.

Question: How do I cite an image, table and/or figure on a PPT slide?

• Answer: Use the same guidelines for citing  images/tables/figures in APA in a paper and include your references at the end of the PPT presentation.
• Best Practice: Always include the proper citation directly under the table/figure following APA rules. Use a smaller text size to avoid distraction/too busy slide. (See APA Blog: Navigating Copyright: How to Cite Sources in a Table.

Question: Should my references be double spaced or single spaced?

• Answer: Although APA does require references to be double spaced  you may exercise flexibility and single space the references.
• Best Practice: Use single space and a smaller font size but otherwise follow the APA citation format for references (i.e list in alphabetical order, indent
• << Previous: Interview
• Next: E-mail >>

• Last Updated: Jul 26, 2024 1:06 PM
• URL: https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/APA

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Professors share 5 myths students believe about college, anxiety among students: what do teachers think about it, how to write a character analysis essay, dorm overbooking and transitional housing: problems colleges are trying to solve, how to cite a lecture in mla.

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Citations are always tricky, regardless of the source you want to refer to. It’s no wonder – you just can’t memorize all those sequences and where the commas should be even if you’re citing something very common, like a book. But what about a lecture? Here’s some good news: if you’re looking to accurately cite a lecture in MLA format, you’ve come to the right place. This guide will simplify giving credit to those insightful lectures without breaking a sweat.

Key Points to Remember When Citing Lectures in MLA Format

When incorporating lectures into your academic writing, make sure to properly cite them in MLA format. This respects the original speaker’s intellectual property and improves your own work by referencing reliable sources. Keep in mind the following important elements and typical MLA requirements:

• Speaker’s Name:  Start with the lecturer’s last name, followed by their first name. This aligns with the MLA’s author-first approach, placing emphasis on the creator of the work.
• Lecture Title:  Enclose the title of the lecture in quotation marks. This tells the reader that it’s a smaller piece of work, like a chapter in a book or an article in a journal.
• Course or Event Name:  Following the title, specify the name of the course or event. This is presented in plain text, without italics or quotation marks, to differentiate it from published works.
• Date of the Lecture:  Include the full date on which the lecture was given, formatted as Day Month Year. This provides a temporal context for the information cited.
• Venue:  If the lecture was given at a specific venue, include this information next. It helps locate the lecture geographically and institutionally.
• City:  Adding the city helps further identify the lecture’s location. If the city isn’t part of the venue’s name, it’s essential to include it afterward for clarity.

MLA also has the following standard requirements:

Punctuation:  Pay close attention to the use of punctuation, especially commas and periods. Each piece of information in the citation is separated by commas, and the entire entry ends with a period.

Capitalization:  Capitalize each significant word in the lecture title, following the MLA’s title capitalization rules.

Abbreviations:  Abbreviate common terms such as “University” to “U” to maintain consistency with MLA style.

Descriptive Labels:  If necessary, include a descriptive label (e.g., “Lecture”) at the end of your citation. This is particularly useful if the nature of the source is not immediately apparent from the citation itself.

An easier option is to use our Citation Machine , which will quickly and easily generate correctly structured academic citations for you.

How to Cite a Lecture in MLA

An MLA lecture’s citation should have the following format:

Speaker’s last name, First name. “Lecture Title.” Course or Event Name, Day Month Year, Venue, City.

This structure is also appropriate for various forms of oral presentations, such as conference panels or public talks. To reference a video recording of a lecture, use the standard video citation style, naming the speaker as the author.

For example, you might end up with something like this:

In-Text Citations for Lectures in MLA

Like with many other sources, MLA format for in-text citations of lectures is straightforward, focusing on the speaker’s last name to guide your reader to the corresponding entry in the Works Cited list. Here’s how to do it correctly:

Basic Format: the most common format for an MLA in-text citation includes the lecturer’s last name in parentheses at the end of the sentence that references the lecture material. For example:

Specific Information or Quotes : when citing specific information, quotes, or if you need to direct the reader to a particular part of the lecture (such as a slide), include a more detailed reference. If the lecture is directly quoted or a very specific point is cited, and the lecture materials are available in a paginated format or with identifiable sections (like slides), you can include this detail in the citation:

(Atkins, slide 9)

Can I cite a lecture I attended but wasn’t recorded or published?

Yes, you can cite lectures you attended even if they weren’t recorded or published. In such cases, treat the lecture as a personal communication and include as much detail as possible: the lecturer’s name, the title of the lecture (if available) or a description of the topic, the course or event name, the date, and the location. Since personal communications do not provide recoverable data, they are not included in the Works Cited list in MLA format. Instead, provide a parenthetical citation within the text.

What should I do if the lecture doesn’t have a clear title?

If the lecture doesn’t have a clear title, you can provide a brief description of the topic in place of the title. Enclose this description in quotation marks. For example, if citing a lecture about the effects of global warming on coral reefs without a specific title, you might write: Smith, John. “Lecture on the Effects of Global Warming on Coral Reefs.”

Is it necessary to include the city and venue for every lecture citation in MLA format?

Including the city and venue in your citation helps identify the specific location where the lecture was given, which can be particularly important for lectures that are part of larger conferences or events held in multiple locations. However, if the lecture was part of a regular course at a university or similar institution where the location is implicit, it may not be necessary to include the city and venue. Always consider the clarity and completeness of your citation for the reader when deciding whether to include this information.

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How to Cite a Lecture or Lecture Notes in APA Referencing

• 3-minute read
• 6th October 2021

Lectures are useful sources of information in academic writing. But how do you cite a lecture or lecture notes using APA referencing ? In this post, we will explain the basics of in-text citations and reference list entries for published lecture notes, video recordings of lectures, and unrecorded lectures.

Citing Published Lecture Notes in APA Referencing

APA is an author–date referencing system, which means that you cite sources by giving the author’s surname and the date of publication in the text. For published lecture notes, this means citing the person who prepared the lecture notes (usually the same person who gave the lecture) and the year of the lecture:

For Jones (2016), balanced literacy is vital.

Balanced literacy requires equal input and output (Smith, 2019).

In the reference list , meanwhile, you would list published lecture notes as follows:

Surname, Initial(s). (Year, date of publication). Title of lecture [Format of notes]. Name of site where notes are available. URL

Therefore, we would list the lecture notes above accordingly:

Jones, J. (2016, March 23). Guided reading: Making the most of it [PowerPoint slides]. SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/hellojenjones/guided-reading-making-the-most-of-it

Smith, T. (2019, October 30). Lecture 1: Introducing balanced literature [PDF lecture notes]. School of Education, University of Somewhere. https://www.universityofsomewhere.ac.uk/education/lecture-notes/smith/balanced-literature

However, this only applies if the lecture notes have been made available after the fact (e.g., via a college website). To cite a lecture directly, see the options below.

Citing a Recording of a Lecture in APA Referencing

For a video recording of a lecture, the rules are a little different. Rather than citing the person who gave the lecture, you will need to cite the account that uploaded the video lecture to the host site. For example, if you were citing this video , you would cite “YaleCourses” as the author (not “Fry,” the lecturer):

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Truth in literature differs from everyday truth (YaleCourses, 2009).

And if you are quoting the video, you may need to provide a timestamp .

In the reference list, meanwhile, you will need to use the following format:

Name of Account. (Year, date of upload). Title of video [Video]. Host site. URL

Therefore, the reference list entry for the video above would read as follows:

YaleCourses. (2009, September 1). 1. Introduction [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YY4CTSQ8nY

Citing an Unrecorded Lecture in APA Referencing

You can also cite an unrecorded lecture as a personal communication in APA referencing. To do this, you would need to give the initial(s) and surname of the lecturer, plus the exact date of the lecture, in your writing:

Some, however, claim that these methods are flawed despite their wide acceptance in the industry (P. Johnson, personal communication, September 22, 2021).

You do not need to include personal communications in the reference list.

Keep in mind, though, that you should only cite an unrecorded lecture as a last resort! If you’re thinking of citing a lecture without a recording or published notes, then, you may want to look for a published source that contains the same information (e.g., one of the sources discussed in the lecture).

Expert APA Referencing

We hope this guide has helped you reference lecture notes or a lecture according to APA style. If you have any doubts, however, get in touch with our expert proofreaders for help to ensure your work is error free.

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APA Lecture Citation

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How to Reference a Lecture in APA

Use the following template to cite a lecture using the APA citation format. We also provide style guides for the MLA and Chicago styles. To have your bibliography or works cited list automatically made for you, check out our free APA citation generator .

Once you’re finished with your citations, we can also help you with creating an APA title page .

This style of reference would be used if you were citing a set of notes from a lecture (e.g., PowerPoint or Google slides provided by your instructor).

Citing online lecture notes or presentation slides

APA format structure:

Author, A. (Presentation/Slide Date). Name or title of lecture [file format]. Name of Website. URL

APA format example:

Saito, T. (2012, September 14). Technology and me: A personal timeline of educational technology [PowerPoint slides]. SlideShare. http://www.slideshare.net/Bclari25/educational-technology-ppt

Tip: If you want to cite information from your own personal notes from a lecture as personal communication and refer to it only in the body of your essay, you can follow the style guide for personal communication available in the Interview section.

For more information on how to cite in APA, check out the University of Canterbury .

←Back to APA Citation Guide

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How to cite lecture notes? (and should I even do this?)

When learning a new subject, I would frequently use lecture notes found somewhere in the Internet. When writing a paper (or a master thesis, as in my case, but the rules should be similar, I believe) one should give some reference for used results which are not common knowledge, if I understand correctly. This make me wonder: what do I do if I want to reference a result I found in some notes?

The natural thing to do would be to just add these notes to bibliography. What format would be preferable for this? Note that there will generally not be much publishing information, perhaps not even a definite year and place. (A BibTeX template would be .)

Secondly, is it OK to cite such materials as a reference?

• publications
• reference-request

• 3 I consider "lecture notes + internet link" (if this last exists) as perfectly good reference as long as the lecture notes are of good quality. –  DonAntonio Commented Jun 2, 2013 at 19:36
• Bibtex has tags like @unpublished , @misc , @online . –  Shuhao Cao Commented Jun 2, 2013 at 19:37
• 3 "Secondly, is it OK to cite such materials as a reference?" Absolutely, but try to make sure the link will still be usable in a few years' time. (One approach is to ask the author via email to put them on arXiv.) Also, add the date of the publication to your reference, or it might become ambiguous. –  darij grinberg Commented Jun 2, 2013 at 19:46
• 5 In mathematics, people cite unpublished papers whose preprints are not available or even personal communications. –  user4511 Commented Jun 3, 2013 at 4:09
• 1 @Vahid: though in most cases when that happens, either the results are tangential or the results are reproduced in full. –  Willie Wong Commented Jun 3, 2013 at 13:39

3 Answers 3

You should make a good-faith effort to find and cite original source of the results (to give proper credit). You should only cite the lecture notes if (1) they are the original source, or (2) the original source is inaccessible, either literally (out of print or unpublished) or figuratively (written in a foreign language, with excessive generality or formality, or just badly).

Finding the original source may require significantly more scholarly diligence on your part than the author of the lecture notes, since most lecture-note authors (including myself) are fairly sloppy with references. Such is life.

• 3 If the lecture notes contain the proofs in full, I don't see why one must find the original source. –  Willie Wong Commented Jun 3, 2013 at 10:55
• 3 @WillieWong: surely it's good to give credit where credit is due. It is possible to over-do it, I suppose, but I think textbooks (not to mention lecture notes) err too much in neglect rather than over-footnoting. –  paul garrett Commented Jun 3, 2013 at 13:01
• 5 @WillieWong: why not both ? Not too burdensome to tell both a helpful source, as well as "origin" source. Delicate, yes, to say "don't try to read this, but cite it"? :) –  paul garrett Commented Jun 3, 2013 at 13:17
• 4 @paulgarrett: I never said that one mustn't find the original source. I merely disagree with the notion that one must find the original source. If one can track down the original source, great! But having spent some time (out of personal interest) trying to track down, historically, the original instance of Widget X, I am inclined to be very, very relaxed about what constitutes a "good-faith effort". I especially will not demand a masters student to dig through the literature by himself for the first instance of Obscure Technical Lemma 3.1.52.... –  Willie Wong Commented Jun 3, 2013 at 13:37
• 3 @WillieWong: Most of the scientific community agrees with you, to its detriment. –  JeffE Commented Jun 3, 2013 at 14:02

To my taste, citations are fulfilling several purposes, some of which may not be fulfillable simultaneously. So, one should be honest about where one found a result, even if the source is not widely available. Thus, cite (in the best, most usable form possible) the lecture notes. Still, yes, accessible sources meet another criterion, namely, helping readers reproduce/understand your results.

Edit: in light of various comments and other answers... another purpose served by spending some (not unlimited) time finding original sources (even while being honest about the source one actually used or _learned_from_) is to give at least a lower bound for the age (and locale of origin) of the idea. Nevertheless, at the same time, it certainly can happen that a much later exposition does a much better job of explaining... after all, benefiting from hindsight.

Yet another reason to exert some effort to credit original sources is to dampen a bit a tendency that otherwise can dominate, namely, some form of "Great Man/Woman" syndrome, in which a very few people are portrayed as being responsible for nearly all good, big ideas.

From a general point of view, lecture notes are gray literature , meaning they might lack standard bibliographic metadata (you mentioned the year and place), may be harder to track down for readers, or not long-term available. Thus, one should generally prefer to cite conventional literature (such as books or articles in journals) over gray literature.

For a masters thesis, it should be fine to cite gray literature, but do check with your advisor. When you do so, you might as well discuss the format he'd recommend for citation. If you found the lecture notes online, one idea would be to cite it as online source , where key metadata would be the URL and the date of access.

In contrast to a masters thesis, many publishers discourage or forbid the citation of gray literature for journal papers. So if you want to make a paper from the thesis and the citation is essential, you would have to find the original source.

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In-Text Citation or Reference List?

Handouts distributed in class and presentation slides such as PowerPoint should be cited both in-text and on the Reference list.

Your own notes from lectures are considered personal communications in APA style. They are cited within the text of your assignment, but do not get an entry on the Reference list.

Presentation Slides from a Website

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Date). Title of presentation  [Lecture notes, PowerPoint Slides, etc.]. Publisher. URL

Kunka, J. L. (n.d.). Conquering the comma [PowerPoint presentation]. Purdue Online Writing Lab. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/pp/index.html#presentations

Presentation Slides from WebCampus (Canvas)

Instructor, I. I. (Year Presentation Was Created).  Title of presentation  [PowerPoint presentation]. WebCampus. URL

Graham, J. (2013).  Introduction: Jean Watson  [PowerPoint presentation]. WebCampus. https://unr.instructure.com/login/canvas

Note : The first letter of the word Watson is capitalized as it is part of a person's name.

Class Handouts from WebCampus (Canvas)

Instructor, I. I. (Year Handout Was Created if known).  Title of handout  [Class handout]. WebCampus. URL

Magowan , A. (2013).  Career resources at the library   [Class handout]. WebCampus. https://unr.instructure.com/login/canvas

Class Handout in Print

Instructor, I. I. (Year Handout Was Created if known).  Title of handout  [Class handout]. University Name, Course code.

Wood, D. (2013).  Laboratory safety overview  [Class handout]. University of Nevada, Reno,  BIO173.

Class Lectures (Notes from)

Note : Your own notes from a lecture are considered personal communications in APA style. They are cited within the text of your assignment, but do not get an entry on the Reference list. Put the citation right after a quote or paraphrased content from the class lecture.

(I. I. Instructor who gave lecture, personal communication, Month Day, Year lecture took place)

"Infections are often contracted while patients are recovering in the hospital" (J. D. Black, personal communication, May 30, 2012).

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How to cite a lecture in apa (7th edition), published by steve tippins on june 23, 2020 june 23, 2020.

Last Updated on: 6th February 2024, 03:50 am

When writing your dissertation or other academic papers, you may have to cite a lecture in APA. Keep these guidelines handy and you will have no problem citing a lecture that your professor delivers.  

Personal lecture notes

The easiest guideline to remember is how to cite a lecture in APA from your own personal notes. 

Lecture notes you take in a live online or face-to-face class are considered personal communication. They are personal communication, because they do not exist in any other  recorded or print format.  

In-text citation 

(Professor’s first initial. Last name, personal communication, date of lecture)

(S. Graham, personal communication, June 17, 2020)

S. Graham (personal communication, June 17, 2020) explained six ways that one can distinguish between interpretation and evidence. 

According to S. Graham (personal communication, June 17, 2020), “there are six ways that one can distinguish between interpretation and evidence.” 

Note: You only need to cite personal communication in-text, and do not have to put it in the References list.

Lecture in online learning management system (LMS) course

A professor’s lecture in a course conducted in an LMS platform may be recorded. To cite a lecture in APA for this type of format, you will need to put the source in the References list.

In-text citation

(Professor’s last name, date of lecture, if no date, n.d.)

(Jimenez, June 17, 2020)

Paraphrase 

According to Jimenez (2017), the first Kuru epidemic occurred in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea among the Fore tribespeople.

Jimenez (2017) stated symptoms of the Kuru disease were “involuntary movements or tremors, difficulty eating that results in malnutrition, personality changes, and dementia.”

Reference list

Professor’s last name, Initial of first name. year, month and day of lecture. Lecture title in italics [Lecture recording]. Type of LMS platform. URL of LMS login page. 

Jimenez, S. (2020, June 17). The Kuru pandemic [Lecture recording]. Blackboard@CR University. https://classes.CRUniv.edu

Lecture on PowerPoint 

To cite a lecture in APA when your professor delivers it via PowerPoint is easy once you have mastered the previous two guidelines. 

(Professor’s last name, year)

(Hayward, 2020)

The epidemic known as “dancing mania” or the dancing plague broke out during the Middle Ages (Hayward, 2020).

According to Hayward (2020), “there are many chronicles written about scourges of uncontrollable dancing among the population living along the Rhine and Moselle Rivers.”

Professor’s last name, Initial of first name. Year, if no date, then n.d. Title of the PowerPoint presentation in italics [PowerPoint slides]. Type of LMS platform. URL of LMS login page.  

Hayward, D. (2020). Dancing mania epidemic [PowerPoint slides]. Canvas@CR University. https://classes.CRUniv.edu

PowerPoint slides online

Your professor may post the PowerPoint lecture online, rather than on the course website. To cite a lecture in APA for this type of lecture, you will follow the guidelines for citing a PowerPoint lecture above, but with a minor difference in how it is written in the References list. 

Last name of professor, Initial of first name. Year of publication, if no date, then n.d. Title of PowerPoint in italics [PowerPoint slides]. URL of PowerPoint. 

Knapp, G. (2020). Methylmercury poisoning in Japan [PowerPoint slides]. https://www. net/health-sciences-methylmercury-poisoning

​ Note: You can find more information about how to cite a lecture in APA 7 th edition in section 8.8 and page 347 of the Manual. 

Steve Tippins

Steve Tippins, PhD, has thrived in academia for over thirty years. He continues to love teaching in addition to coaching recent PhD graduates as well as students writing their dissertations. Learn more about his dissertation coaching and career coaching services. Book a Free Consultation with Steve Tippins

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Dissertations/Theses

Print dissertations/theses.

Please ensure that you follow the template exactly, including text formatting such as italics and punctuation.

Author(s) (Year of submission) Title of thesis . Degree statement. Degree-awarding body.

Paraphrasing / Summarising

... reflected light from interplanetary dust (May, 2008).

According to May (2008), the telescopes were not strong enough to ...

"...radial velocity measurements may indicate a significant interstellar component in the dust" (May, 2008, p. 59)

Reference List :

May, B.H. (2008) A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud . PhD thesis. Imperial College London.

Electronic Dissertations/Theses

Author(s) (Year of submission) Title of thesis . Degree statement. Degree-awarding body. Available at: DOI

Author(s) (Year of submission) Title of thesis . Degree statement. Degree-awarding body. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

... the data for this has not always been clear (Huang, 2023).

According to Huang (2023), spatial awareness differs from person to person, and ...

"As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a Ux designer!" (Huang, 2023, p. 1).

According to Huang (2023, p. 167) "spatial interfaces present their own peculiar problems".

Huang, Z. (2023) Spatial Interfaces and user design . PhD thesis. Robert Gordon University. Available at: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/880907 (Accessed: 25 July 2024).

My Own Appendices

No requirement for a reference list entry.

As the data demonstrates (See Appendix 1) the majority of ...

If the appendix is something you have written yourself, then you may have included references within it. If so, you just insert the citations in the text of your appendix as normal and include the full references along with all the others in your reference list.

If the appendix you have created consists entirely of text written by someone else, then put the citation at the bottom and include the full reference in your list.

Someone Else's Appendices

If you are referencing something from an appendix within a book, article etc. then simply reference the source as normal.

It has been shown (J'Zargo, 2002, Appendix 1, p. 4) that...

Lecture Notes

Tutorial handouts.

Please ensure that you follow the template exactly, including text formatting such as italics , and any punctuation.

Tutor's name (year of distribution) 'Title of handout', Module code: module title . Institution. Unpublished.

The course handout (Dante, 2023) indicated several ...

... to discuss the importance of "a wider understanding of issues around the globe" (Dante, 2023, p. 3).

Dante, S. (2023) 'Sociology: Introductory Readings', SS2047: Sociology for social work practice . Robert Gordon University. Unpublished.

Online Tutorial Handouts

Tutor's name (year of distribution) 'Title of handout', Module code: module title . Institution. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

The results handout showed that the higher the number of uncontrolled variables, the less reliable the conclusion (Kanu, 2024).

... the results were listed as "unable to verify" (Kanu, 2024, p. 7).

Kanu, N. (2024) 'Spherical modulation: results', EN1104: Introduction to industrial control . Robert Gordon University. Available at: https://campusmoodle.rgu.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=910714 (Accessed: 29 September 2024).

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / MLA Format / How to Cite an Essay in MLA

How to Cite an Essay in MLA

The guidelines for citing an essay in MLA format are similar to those for citing a chapter in a book. Include the author of the essay, the title of the essay, the name of the collection if the essay belongs to one, the editor of the collection or other contributors, the publication information, and the page number(s).

Citing an Essay

Mla essay citation structure.

Last, First M. “Essay Title.” Collection Title, edited by First M. Last, Publisher, year published, page numbers. Website Title , URL (if applicable).

MLA Essay Citation Example

Gupta, Sanjay. “Balancing and Checking.” Essays on Modern Democracy, edited by Bob Towsky, Brook Stone Publishers, 1996, pp. 36-48. Essay Database, www . databaseforessays.org/modern/modern-democracy.

MLA Essay In-text Citation Structure

(Last Name Page #)

MLA Essay In-text Citation Example

Click here to cite an essay via an EasyBib citation form.

MLA Formatting Guide

MLA Formatting

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To cite your sources in an essay in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the author’s name(s), chapter title, book title, editor(s), publication year, publisher, and page numbers. The templates for in-text citations and a works-cited-list entry for essay sources and some examples are given below:

In-text citation template and example:

For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the author on the first occurrence. For subsequent citations, use only the surname(s). In parenthetical citations, always use only the surname of the author(s).

Citation in prose:

First mention: Annette Wheeler Cafarelli

Subsequent occurrences: Wheeler Cafarelli

Parenthetical:

….(Wheeler Cafarelli).

Works-cited-list entry template and example:

The title of the chapter is enclosed in double quotation marks and uses title case. The book or collection title is given in italics and uses title case.

Surname, First Name. “Title of the Chapter.” Title of the Book , edited by Editor(s) Name, Publisher, Publication Year, page range.

Cafarelli, Annette Wheeler. “Rousseau and British Romanticism: Women and British Romanticism.” Cultural Interactions in the Romantic Age: Critical Essays in Comparative Literature , edited by Gregory Maertz. State U of New York P, 1998, pp. 125–56.

To cite an essay in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the author(s), the essay title, the book title, editor(s), publication year, publisher, and page numbers. The templates for citations in prose, parenthetical citations, and works-cited-list entries for an essay by multiple authors, and some examples, are given below:

For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the author (e.g., Mary Strine).

For sources with two authors, use both full author names in prose (e.g., Mary Strine and Beth Radick).

For sources with three or more authors, use the first name and surname of the first author followed by “and others” or “and colleagues” (e.g., Mary Strine and others). In subsequent citations, use only the surname of the first author followed by “and others” or “and colleagues” (e.g., Strine and others).

In parenthetical citations, use only the author’s surname. For sources with two authors, use two surnames (e.g., Strine and Radick). For sources with three or more author names, use the first author’s surname followed by “et al.”

First mention: Mary Strine…

Subsequent mention: Strine…

First mention: Mary Strine and Beth Radick…

Subsequent mention: Strine and Radick…

First mention: Mary Strine and colleagues …. or Mary Strine and others

Subsequent occurrences: Strine and colleagues …. or Strine and others

…. (Strine).

….(Strine and Radick).

….(Strine et al.).

The title of the essay is enclosed in double quotation marks and uses title case. The book or collection title is given in italics and uses title case.

Surname, First Name, et al. “Title of the Essay.” Title of the Book , edited by Editor(s) Name, Publisher, Publication Year, page range.

Strine, Mary M., et al. “Research in Interpretation and Performance Studies: Trends, Issues, Priorities.” Speech Communication: Essays to Commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Speech Communication Association , edited by Gerald M. Phillips and Julia T. Wood, Southern Illinois UP, 1990, pp. 181–204.

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MLA Works Cited: Other Common Sources

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Several sources have multiple means for citation, especially those that appear in varied formats: films, DVDs, television shows, music, published and unpublished interviews, interviews over e-mail, published and unpublished conference proceedings. The following section discusses these sorts of citations as well as others not covered in the print, periodical, and electronic sources sections.

Use the following format for all sources:

Author. Title. Title of container (self contained if book), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs URL or DOI). 2 nd container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location, Date of Access (if applicable).

An Interview

Interviews typically fall into two categories: print or broadcast published and unpublished (personal) interviews, although interviews may also appear in other, similar formats such as in e-mail format or as a Web document.

Personal Interviews

Personal interviews refer to those interviews that you conduct yourself. List the interview by the name of the interviewee. Include the descriptor Personal interview and the date of the interview.

Smith, Jane. Personal interview. 19 May 2014.

Published Interviews (Print or Broadcast)

List the interview by the full name of the interviewee. If the name of the interview is part of a larger work like a book, a television program, or a film series, place the title of the interview in quotation marks and place the title of the larger work in italics. If the interview appears as an independent title, italicize it. For books, include the author or editor name after the book title.

Note: If the interview from which you quote does not feature a title, add the descriptor, Interview by (unformatted) after the interviewee’s name and before the interviewer’s name.

Gaitskill, Mary. Interview with Charles Bock. Mississippi Review , vol. 27, no. 3, 1999, pp. 129-50.

Amis, Kingsley. “Mimic and Moralist.” Interviews with Britain’s Angry Young Men , By Dale Salwak, Borgo P, 1984.

Online-only Published Interviews

List the interview by the name of the interviewee. If the interview has a title, place it in quotation marks. Cite the remainder of the entry as you would other exclusive web content. Place the name of the website in italics, give the publisher name (or sponsor), the publication date, and the URL.

Note: If the interview from which you quote does not feature a title, add the descriptor Interview by (unformatted) after the interviewee’s name and before the interviewer’s name.

Zinkievich, Craig. Interview by Gareth Von Kallenbach. Skewed & Reviewed , 27 Apr. 2009, www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/1056940-skewed-%2526-reviewed-interviews-craig. Accessed 15 May 2009.

Speeches, Lectures, or Other Oral Presentations (including Conference Presentations)

Start with speaker’s name. Then, give the title of the speech (if any) in quotation marks. Follow with the title of the particular conference or meeting and then the name of the organization. Name the venue and its city (if the name of the city is not listed in the venue’s name). Use the descriptor that appropriately expresses the type of presentation (e.g., Address, Lecture, Reading, Keynote Speech, Guest Lecture, Conference Presentation).

Stein, Bob. “Reading and Writing in the Digital Era.” Discovering Digital Dimensions, Computers and Writing Conference, 23 May 2003, Union Club Hotel, West Lafayette, IN. Keynote Address.

Panel Discussions and Question-and-Answer Sessions

The MLA Handbook makes a distinction between the formal, rehearsed portion of a presentation and the informal discussion that often occurs after. To format an entry for a panel discussion or question-and-answer session, treat the panel members or speakers as authors by listing them first. If these people are formally listed as panelists, indicate this by following their names with a comma and the title "panelist(s)." Follow with the title of the discussion, or, if there is no title, a simple description. In the latter case, don't capitalize the description. Follow this with the title of the conference or event. End with the date and the location.

Bavis, Jim and Stein, Tammi, panelists. Panel discussion. Dawn or Doom Conference, 4 Nov. 2018, Stewart Hall, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.

Treat recorded discussions as instances of the appropriate medium (e.g., if you want to cite a recording of a panel discussion hosted on YouTube, cite it the same way you would cite an ordinary online video ).

Published Conference Proceedings

Cite published conference proceedings like a book. If the date and location of the conference are not part of the published title, add this information after the published proceedings title.

Last Name, First Name, editor. Conference Title , Conference Date and Location, Publisher, Date of Publication.

To cite a presentation from published conference proceedings, begin with the presenter’s name. Place the name of the presentation in quotation marks. Follow with publication information for the conference proceedings.

Last Name, First Name. “Conference Paper Title.” Conference Title that Includes Conference Date and Location , edited by Conference Editor(s), Publisher, Date of Publication.

A Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph

Provide the artist's name, the title of the artwork in italics, and the date of composition. Finally, provide the name of the institution that houses the artwork followed by the location of the institution (if the location is not listed in the name of the institution, e.g. The Art Institute of Chicago).

Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV . 1800, Museo del Prado, Madrid.

If the medium and/or materials (e.g., oil on canvas) are important to the reference, you can include this information at the end of the entry. However, it is not required.

For photographic reproductions of artwork (e.g. images of artwork in a book), treat the book or website as a container. Remember that for a second container, the title is listed first, before the contributors. Cite the bibliographic information as above followed by the information for the source in which the photograph appears, including page or reference numbers (plate, figure, etc.).

Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV . 1800, Museo del Prado, Madrid. Gardener's Art Through the Ages , 10 th ed., by Richard G. Tansey and Fred S. Kleiner, Harcourt Brace, p. 939.

If you viewed the artwork on the museum's website, treat the name of the website as the container and include the website's publisher and the URL at the end of the citation. Omit publisher information if it is the same as the name of the website. Note the period after the date below, rather than the comma: this is because the date refers to the painting's original creation, rather than to its publication on the website. Thus, MLA format considers it an "optional element."

Goya, Francisco.  The Family of Charles IV . 1800 . Museo del Prado,  museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-family-of-carlos-iv/f47898fc-aa1c-48f6-a779-71759e417e74.

A Song or Album

Music can be cited multiple ways. Mainly, this depends on the container that you accessed the music from. Generally, citations begin with the artist name. They might also be listed by composers or performers. Otherwise, list composer and performer information after the album title. Put individual song titles in quotation marks. Album names are italicized. Provide the name of the recording manufacturer followed by the publication date.

If information such as record label or name of album is unavailable from your source, do not list that information.

Morris, Rae. “Skin.” Cold, Atlantic Records, 2014. Spotify , open.spotify.com/track/0OPES3Tw5r86O6fudK8gxi.

Online Album

Beyoncé. “Pray You Catch Me.” Lemonade, Parkwood Entertainment, 2016, www.beyonce.com/album/lemonade-visual-album/.

Nirvana. "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Nevermind , Geffen, 1991.

Films or Movies

List films by their title. Include the name of the director, the film studio or distributor, and the release year. If relevant, list performer names after the director's name.

Speed Racer . Directed by Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski, performances by Emile Hirsch, Nicholas Elia, Susan Sarandon, Ariel Winter, and John Goodman, Warner Brothers, 2008.

To emphasize specific performers or directors, begin the citation with the name of the desired performer or director, followed by the appropriate title for that person.

Lucas, George, director. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope . Twentieth Century Fox, 1977.

Television Shows

Recorded Television Episodes

Cite recorded television episodes like films (see above). Begin with the episode name in quotation marks. Follow with the series name in italics. When the title of the collection of recordings is different than the original series (e.g., the show Friends is in DVD release under the title Friends: The Complete Sixth Season), list the title that would help researchers to locate the recording. Give the distributor name followed by the date of distribution.

"The One Where Chandler Can't Cry." Friends: The Complete Sixth Season , written by Andrew Reich and Ted Cohen, directed by Kevin Bright, Warner Brothers, 2004.

Broadcast TV or Radio Program

Begin with the title of the episode in quotation marks. Provide the name of the series or program in italics. Also include the network name, call letters of the station followed by the date of broadcast and city.

"The Blessing Way." The X-Files . Fox, WXIA, Atlanta, 19 Jul. 1998.

Netflix, Hulu, Google Play

Generally, when citing a specific episode, follow the format below.

“94 Meetings.” Parks and Recreation, season 2, episode 21, NBC, 29 Apr. 2010. Netflix, www.netflix.com/watch/70152031.

An Entire TV Series

When citing the entire series of a TV show, use the following format.

Daniels, Greg and Michael Schur, creators. Parks and Recreation . Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2015.

A Specific Performance or Aspect of a TV Show

If you want to emphasize a particular aspect of the show, include that particular information. For instance, if you are writing about a specific character during a certain episode, include the performer’s name as well as the creator’s.

“94 Meetings.” Parks and Recreation, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, performance by Amy Poehler, season 2, episode 21, Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2010.

If you wish to emphasize a particular character throughout the show’s run time, follow this format.

Poehler, Amy, performer. Parks and Recreation. Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2009-2015.

Begin with the title of the episode in quotation marks. Provide the name of the series in italics. Then follow with MLA format per usual.

“Best of Not My Job Musicians.” Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! from NPR, 4 June 2016, www.npr.org/podcasts/344098539/wait-wait-don-t-tell-me.

Spoken-Word Albums such as Comedy Albums

Treat spoken-word albums the same as musical albums.

Hedberg, Mitch. Strategic Grill Locations . Comedy Central, 2003.

Digital Files (PDFs, MP3s, JPEGs)

Determine the type of work to cite (e.g., article, image, sound recording) and cite appropriately. End the entry with the name of the digital format (e.g., PDF, JPEG file, Microsoft Word file, MP3). If the work does not follow traditional parameters for citation, give the author’s name, the name of the work, the date of creation, and the location.

Beethoven, Ludwig van. Moonlight Sonata . Crownstar, 2006.

Smith, George. “Pax Americana: Strife in a Time of Peace.” 2005. Microsoft Word file.

Council of Writing Program Administrators, National Council of Teachers of English, and National Writing Project. Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing . CWPA, NCTE, and NWP, 2011, wpacouncil.org/files/framework-for-success-postsecondary-writing.pdf.

Bentley, Phyllis. “Yorkshire and the Novelist.” The Kenyon Review , vol. 30, no. 4, 1968, pp. 509-22. JSTOR , www.jstor.org.iii/stable/4334841.

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• Knowledge Base
• Citing sources

How to Cite Sources | Citation Generator & Quick Guide

Citing your sources is essential in  academic writing . Whenever you quote or paraphrase a source (such as a book, article, or webpage), you have to include a  citation crediting the original author.

Failing to properly cite your sources counts as plagiarism , since you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

The most commonly used citation styles are APA and MLA. The free Scribbr Citation Generator is the quickest way to cite sources in these styles. Simply enter the URL, DOI, or title, and we’ll generate an accurate, correctly formatted citation.

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Table of contents

When do you need to cite sources, which citation style should you use, in-text citations, reference lists and bibliographies.

Scribbr Citation Generator

Other useful citation tools

Citation examples and full guides, frequently asked questions about citing sources.

Citations are required in all types of academic texts. They are needed for several reasons:

• To avoid plagiarism by indicating when you’re taking information from another source
• To give proper credit to the author of that source
• To allow the reader to consult your sources for themselves

A citation is needed whenever you integrate a source into your writing. This usually means quoting or paraphrasing:

• To quote a source , copy a short piece of text word for word and put it inside quotation marks .
• To paraphrase a source , put the text into your own words. It’s important that the paraphrase is not too close to the original wording. You can use the paraphrasing tool if you don’t want to do this manually.

Citations are needed whether you quote or paraphrase, and whatever type of source you use. As well as citing scholarly sources like books and journal articles, don’t forget to include citations for any other sources you use for ideas, examples, or evidence. That includes websites, YouTube videos , and lectures .

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Usually, your institution (or the journal you’re submitting to) will require you to follow a specific citation style, so check your guidelines or ask your instructor.

In some cases, you may have to choose a citation style for yourself. Make sure to pick one style and use it consistently:

• APA Style is widely used in the social sciences and beyond.
• MLA style is common in the humanities.
• Chicago notes and bibliography , common in the humanities
• Chicago author-date , used in the (social) sciences
• There are many other citation styles for different disciplines.

If in doubt, check with your instructor or read other papers from your field of study to see what style they follow.

In most styles, your citations consist of:

• Brief in-text citations at the relevant points in the text
• A reference list or bibliography containing full information on all the sources you’ve cited

In-text citations most commonly take the form of parenthetical citations featuring the last name of the source’s author and its year of publication (aka author-date citations).

An alternative to this type of in-text citation is the system used in numerical citation styles , where a number is inserted into the text, corresponding to an entry in a numbered reference list.

There are also note citation styles , where you place your citations in either footnotes or endnotes . Since they’re not embedded in the text itself, these citations can provide more detail and sometimes aren’t accompanied by a full reference list or bibliography.

A reference list (aka “Bibliography” or “Works Cited,” depending on the style) is where you provide full information on each of the sources you’ve cited in the text. It appears at the end of your paper, usually with a hanging indent applied to each entry.

The information included in reference entries is broadly similar, whatever citation style you’re using. For each source, you’ll typically include the:

• Author name
• Publication date
• Container (e.g., the book an essay was published in, the journal an article appeared in)
• Location (e.g., a URL or DOI , or sometimes a physical location)

The exact information included varies depending on the source type and the citation style. The order in which the information appears, and how you format it (e.g., capitalization, use of italics) also varies.

Most commonly, the entries in your reference list are alphabetized by author name. This allows the reader to easily find the relevant entry based on the author name in your in-text citation.

In numerical citation styles, the entries in your reference list are numbered, usually based on the order in which you cite them. The reader finds the right entry based on the number that appears in the text.

Because each style has many small differences regarding things like italicization, capitalization , and punctuation , it can be difficult to get every detail right. Using a citation generator can save you a lot of time and effort.

Scribbr offers citation generators for both APA and MLA style. Both are quick, easy to use, and 100% free, with no ads and no registration required.

Just input a URL or DOI or add the source details manually, and the generator will automatically produce an in-text citation and reference entry in the correct format. You can save your reference list as you go and download it when you’re done, and even add annotations for an annotated bibliography .

Once you’ve prepared your citations, you might still be unsure if they’re correct and if you’ve used them appropriately in your text. This is where Scribbr’s other citation tools and services may come in handy:

Plagiarism Checker

Citation Checker

Citation Editing

Plagiarism means passing off someone else’s words or ideas as your own. It’s a serious offense in academia. Universities use plagiarism checking software to scan your paper and identify any similarities to other texts.

When you’re dealing with a lot of sources, it’s easy to make mistakes that could constitute accidental plagiarism. For example, you might forget to add a citation after a quote, or paraphrase a source in a way that’s too close to the original text.

Using a plagiarism checker yourself before you submit your work can help you spot these mistakes before they get you in trouble. Based on the results, you can add any missing citations and rephrase your text where necessary.

Try out the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker for free, or check out our detailed comparison of the best plagiarism checkers available online.

Scribbr Plagiarism Checker

Scribbr’s Citation Checker is a unique AI-powered tool that automatically detects stylistic errors and inconsistencies in your in-text citations. It also suggests a correction for every mistake.

Currently available for APA Style, this is the fastest and easiest way to make sure you’ve formatted your citations correctly. You can try out the tool for free below.

If you need extra help with your reference list, we also offer a more in-depth Citation Editing Service.

Our experts cross-check your in-text citations and reference entries, make sure you’ve included the correct information for each source, and improve the formatting of your reference page.

If you want to handle your citations yourself, Scribbr’s free Knowledge Base provides clear, accurate guidance on every aspect of citation. You can see citation examples for a variety of common source types below:

And you can check out our comprehensive guides to the most popular citation styles:

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

The abbreviation “ et al. ” (Latin for “and others”) is used to shorten citations of sources with multiple authors.

“Et al.” is used in APA in-text citations of sources with 3+ authors, e.g. (Smith et al., 2019). It is not used in APA reference entries .

Use “et al.” for 3+ authors in MLA in-text citations and Works Cited entries.

Use “et al.” for 4+ authors in a Chicago in-text citation , and for 10+ authors in a Chicago bibliography entry.

The Scribbr Citation Generator is developed using the open-source Citation Style Language (CSL) project and Frank Bennett’s citeproc-js . It’s the same technology used by dozens of other popular citation tools, including Mendeley and Zotero.

You can find all the citation styles and locales used in the Scribbr Citation Generator in our publicly accessible repository on Github .

APA format is widely used by professionals, researchers, and students in the social and behavioral sciences, including fields like education, psychology, and business.

Be sure to check the guidelines of your university or the journal you want to be published in to double-check which style you should be using.

MLA Style  is the second most used citation style (after APA ). It is mainly used by students and researchers in humanities fields such as literature, languages, and philosophy.

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