Brett Bodemer, CLA Librarian and Coordinator of Reference
Purpose of this Guide
This guide is intended to provide both general and discipline-specific help pointers for citation and annotated bibliographies. This landing page points to basic citation help, while the navigation pages provide more in-depth guidance regarding annotated bibliographies and citation styles in the various colleges,
And remember, for citation and research questions you can also go get live help on 24/7 Live Chat.
Popular Citation Styles - APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, CSE/CBE, Harvard, IEEE
APA Style
Established by the American Psychological Association. This style is standard for multiple disciplines including many in the Social Sciences. The official APA style site provides robust citation examples and support.
- APA Style Reference ExamplesThe official APA site has perfect examples in APA style, based on the 2019, 8th edition.
- Official APA SiteThis online site provides official guidance for APA grammar, stylistics, and clearly describes how to format in-text citations.
- APA: How to Cite ChatGPTOfficial guidance from APA on citing ChatGPT text.
- APA OWL Purdue (online guide)This guide, curated by librarians at Purdue University, provides detailed guidance for APA style.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by Call Number: BF76.7 .P83 2019ISBN: 9781433832161Publication Date: 2019-10-01Official ocumentation for APA stylistics, grammar and citations. A print copy is available for short-term checkout from Permanent Reserves.
MLA Style
Citation style established by the Modern Language Association.
- How to Cite Generative AI in MLAOfficial guidance from MLA on citing ChatGPT and other generative AI content.
MLA Handbook by Call Number: Permanent Reserves LB2369 .G53 2021(Ref)ISBN: 9781603293518Publication Date: 2021-04-21Tte MLA Handbook is the authorized MLA guide. A print copy is available for short term checkout from Permanent Reserves.
Other Styles
CHICAGO, TURABIAN and CSE/CBE, HARVARD, IEEE
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Ninth Edition by Call Number: Permanent Reserves LB2369 .T8 2018ISBN: 9780226494425Publication Date: 2018-04-18Turabian provides a more student-friendly version of Chicago style. A print copy is available for short term checkout from Permanent Reserves.
The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th Edition by Call Number: Permanent Reserves Z253 .C453 U558 2024ISBN: 0226817970Publication Date: 2024-09-24Official Chicago style down to the smallest detail. A print copy is available for short term checkout from Permanent Reserves.
- How to Cite Generative AI in ChicagoOfficial guidance from Chicago Manual of Style site on how to cite Generative AI.
CSE/CBE refers to the citation format established by the Council of Biology Editors. CBE is the format preferred by writers in Biology, Geology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Medicine, and Physics.
Scientific Style and Format by Call Number: T11 .S386 2006ISBN: 097796650XPublication Date: 2006-04-01Scientific Style and Format is a recognized, authoritative reference for authors, editors, publishers, students, and translators in all areas of science and related fields.
- Harvard StyleMendeley provides an online guide to support creation of references according to Harvard Style.
Should I cite a database?
It is rarely helpful to cite a database (because most works are discoverable via more than one database).
APA Style Guidance on Citing Databases
An exception is when the database contains proprietary information that cannot be accessed in another way, such as some of the business resources Cal Poly subscribes to (such as MRI Simmons).
Guidance on how to cite such sources is not as detailed as for other kinds of information, so in some cases you (or your instructor) must choose an approach, with the goal of presenting enough information for the reader to locate your source material.
Example: For MRI Simmons reports, you can follow APA guidelines for a dataset. Examples are linked on this external library page: https://libguides.stthomas.edu/c.php?g=612648&p=4280359
Citation Generators
There are various online tools that will help you generate citations, Some, such as EasyBib and Citation Machine, provide a limited number of citations before asking for some form of payment.
The OWL at Purdue has FREE citation generators for several styles.
WARNING:DO NOT BLINDLY TRUST ANY GENERATORS, AND BE PREPARED TO ADJUST THE CITATIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE PARTICULAR STYLE, INCLUDING INDENTATION, CAPITALIZATION, ITALICIZATION, AND THE ORDER OF THE CONTENT.
Zotero Citation Management Software
- Zotero
Zotero is a free tool that lets you save, cite and manage just about any format of information. You can create separate folders for your research and, since it is hosted remotely, you can access it anywhere, and create bibliographies in a wide range of citation styles. Zotero is available on all the computers in Kennedy Library. - Introduction to Zotero (University of Chicago)Here's a helpful, concise 15-minute tutorial on installing, saving articles, and inserting citations in Zotero.
EndNote
- EndNoteCal Poly's Subscription to the Web of Science databases is augmented by the ability to download a version of EndNote which allows you to download, store, and manage your citations. This ITS page exactly details how to download the software.
Mendeley
- MendeleyMendeley is another citation management platform, hosted by the publishing giant Elsevier, but with a free version that offers basic functionality.
