Citation Conventions

Two basic formats are used to cite material in academic writing.

Numbered Reference Note
(Footnote or Endnote)

The writer customarily provides a full bibliographic citation in the first reference to a particular source, and an abbreviated citation for subsequent references, using either a footnote (which appears at the bottom of the page) or an endnote (which appears at the end of the article, chapter, or book). Full source citations are listed in the reference list or bibliography.

Parenthetical Reference Method

The writer uses parenthetical references within the text. Those typically follow either an author-date format, like the one recommended by the American Psychological Association (APA), or the format devised by the Modern Language Association (MLA).

With the APA format, the author's name and publication date are cited in parentheses; a page number reference is included if appropriate, as in the case of a direct quote citation. With the MLA format, the author's name and page number of the source material are cited in parentheses.

Both the APA and MLA formats stress brevity in the parenthetical reference and rely on a reference list (or list of works consulted) for complete bibliographical information.

Citation styles vary widely from discipline to discipline. Writers in the natural and social sciences, for example, tend to use the author-date parenthetical reference method, whereas authors in the humanities usually use either a numbered reference note or the MLA parenthetical reference.

Style manuals and research guides are very useful resources that provide detailed information and invaluable guidance on various aspects of writing and research, including the importance of using clear and accurate citations to credit sources properly. In selecting style manuals or research guides from the wide range of available reference materials, you would be well advised to follow the recommendations of your instructors and the conventions of your academic discipline.

Many instructors specify the preferred or required citation styles to use in preparing assignments for their courses. For more details about the specific formats best suited for your writing projects and the methods for citing various source materials, consult with your instructors, refer to recognized style manuals and research guides, and check out the helpful resources at the Undergraduate Writing Center as well as University libraries, such as Flawn Academic Center (FAC) and Perry-Castañeda Library (PCL).