Library Skills Tutorial

Writing the Paper - Citing Sources

Sandy is careful to check for plagiarism in her paper and reference all phrases or ideas that are not her own.

There are many different styles for citing references. Each academic department generally has a preferred style manual that it recommends to their students. Always be sure to check with your professor to see which is the recommended style manual when you have to write a paper.

Each style manual insures a uniform research paper layout including the citation of footnotes and references, the citation of resources in bibliographies, punctuation, abbreviations, etc.

The style manuals most commonly used are:

• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association - used in the social sciences, education, and business.
• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers - used in English and other language classes.
• A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate Turabian - used in history classes.

Copies of all these styles manuals are available in the Reference area of the library. Some copies are also available to be checked out.