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First Year Experience

A resource guide for first year and transfer students!

Why do I need to cite?

Properly citing your resources in your work is important because...

  • It proves that your work is high quality and your ideas have been backed up by reliable sources.
  • It helps the reader easily and consistently access your resources. (If you're researching and find a source you really like, try taking a look at its bibliography to find similar relevant resources! This trick would not be possible without proper citations.)
  • It helps the reader tell the difference between your original ideas and your research.

Citation Tools

If you use any type of citation tool, whether it's a website like EasyBib, the citations provided by databases, or the tools listed below, it's always important to double-check the citation for errors. No citation tool is perfect and there are often small errors in formatting, spelling, etc.

The following are free, high-quality citation tools:

Citation Styles

MLA 9 Video by Molly Campbell
APA 7 Video by Molly Campbell

Keep in mind that there are two types of Chicago Style -- Author-Date and Notes-Bibliography. Author-Date uses in-text citations that include the author's last name and date of the publication. Notes-Bibliography uses more detailed footnotes rather than in-text citations. Pay attention to which style you are meant to be using.