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Thesis, research papers, dissertations, and any other type of academic writing need to be cited using different citation styles. Students and researchers commonly use APA, MLA, and Chicago citation styles for citing sources.
Citing the sources is an important part of the research paper. With citation, you will easily save yourself from plagiarism and show the relevance of your work.
However, some students get confused about between different citation styles. Therefore, in this blog, you will get a complete style guide and know how to cite a research paper in different formats.
The citation style helps the students or researchers to format their papers in a specific way. Therefore, it is an essential part of the paper when you cite another researcher’s work.
However, citation styles are generally used to locate particular sources. Also, it is published in an official handbook that contains examples, explanations, and instructions.
The main purpose of citations is to:
The citation style you will select will depend on the discipline in which you are writing. However, in most cases, the professor assigns a citation style to students. Therefore, consult them first and then start writing the research paper.
When you cite sources, you should mention some main things:
Therefore, keep these things in mind when you cite the sources. Also, the information you add will remain the same in all citation styles, but the presented order is different.
When you write a research paper, you must cite the sources you use in your paper. The main citation styles used in academic writing are:
The basic information is the same in all citation styles. However, only the format to present information depends on APA, MLA, Chicago, and any other citation style. Let us discuss these referencing styles in detail.
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Order NowAPA is the most common research paper format, and it is generally used in psychology and social sciences papers. However, it is not limited to such disciplines.
Also, it is not a complex citation style, and students normally use this style to format their research papers.
For your help, we gathered some formatting rules that you should follow when writing the research paper in APA format.
Also, in APA format style paper, the research paper should include:
Here are some specific APA formats for different kinds of sources:
Source | Format |
Website | Author, (Year, Month Date of Publication). Article title. Retrieved from URL |
Book | Author, (Year of Publication). The Title of work. Publisher City, State: Publisher |
Magazine | Author, (Year, a month of Publication). Article title. Magazine Title, Volume(Issue), pp.-pp |
News P | Author, (Year, Month Date of Publication). Article title. Magazine Title, pp. xx-xx |
In-text citations direct the readers to references entries at the end of the paper. It is usually used when you describe another author’s work or ideas.
The APA in-text citation has two major elements:
Also, when you cite the source, you must add the timestamp and page number.
For Example: (Alexa, 1993, p. 45)
The APA in-text citation come in two different forms:
Both types have different styles of citation. In parenthetical citation, you write like this (Alexa, 2010), but in a narrative, write the citation in this format Alexa (2010).
Take a look at this sample and get a better idea of the APA format style research paper
MLA citation is another common research paper format, and it is mainly used in the humanities and liberal arts subjects. This style is mainly used by scholars, researchers, or students to format their writing assignments.
However, when you write the paper in MLA format, use the title “Works-Cited List” for your reference list.
Here are some formatting rules that you should know when drafting the research paper in MLA format.
Therefore, keep these rules in mind and format the MLA-style research paper effectively.
Below-given are the following MLA formats for different kinds of sources:
Source | Format |
Website | Last Name, First Name. “Page Title.” Website Title. Sponsoring Institution/Publisher. Publication Date: Page Numbers. Medium. |
Book | Last Name, First Name. Book Title. Publisher City: Publisher Name, Year Published. Medium. |
Magazine | Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Magazine Name Publication Date: Page Numbers. Medium |
News Paper | Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Newspaper Name Publication Date: Page Numbers. Medium. |
Blog Posts | ast name, Middle name, Surname. “Title of the blog post.” Blog Title, Publisher, date posted, URL. |
@twitterhandel. “Description.” Twitter, date, time. URL. | |
Last name, first name. “Description” Website Title, date, URL. |
Check this sample and write a research paper in MLA format without any difficulty.
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Order NowSeveral researchers also use the Chicago style, and it is also normally used in humanities and book bibliographies. In this citation style, the writers cite sources in endnotes and footnotes. Also, this style allows the writers to demonstrate acceptability to the related references used in the content.
The following are the Chicago-style formatting rules that every student or researcher should follow.
For your help, we also gathered the Chicago-style citation to cite sources of different kinds.
Source | Format |
Website | Last Name, First Name. “Page Title.” Website Title. Web Address (retrieved Date Accessed). |
Article | Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Journal Name Volume Number (Year Published): Page Numbers |
Magazine | Last Name, First Name. Article title. Magazine Title, Month Date, Year of publication. |
News Paper | Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Newspaper Name, Publication Date. |
Youtube Video | Last name, First name, “Title of Video.” YouTube video, length. Date published. URL. |
Last name, First name. Twitter Post. Month Day, Year, Time. Tweet URL. | |
Author(s) of the post (@handle). "Text of the Instagram post." Instagram, Date of posting. URL. | |
Blog Posts | First name Last Name, “Title of Blog Post,” Blog Title (blog), Month Date, Year of Post, URL. |
Book | Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher City: Publisher Name, Year Published. |
Also, look at this sample and get help from them for your research paper.
The Sociological Association creates this citation style, and scholars use it for writing sociology research papers.
The main elements of the ASA paper are:
Here are some formatting tips that help you in writing the research paper in ASA forma
Below are the ASA citation style guidelines for citing different kinds of sources.
Source | Source |
Website | Author’s Last, First Name. Date of Publishing. Title. Publisher. Retrieved Month Day, Year (link). |
Magazine Article | Author’s Last, First Name. Year of Pub. "Title." Magazine Name, Month Year, pp. Inclusive page numbers. |
Book | Author’s Last, First Name. Year of Publication. Title. Country of publisher: Publisher. |
Newspaper Article | Author Last name, First name. Year of publication. "Title of Article." Title of Newspaper (italicized), Month date, pp. Numbers. |
Here is an ASA sample paper for your ease.
The IEEE citation style is used in electronics, computer science, engineering, and IT. This citation style is an official style of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Also, the IEEE citation style has three main parts:
Like all other citation styles, the format, page numbers, and other information will differ depending on the types of cited sources.
The following table shows how you cite different kinds of sources in your research paper.
Source | Format |
Handbooks | Name of Manual/Handbook, x ed., Abbrev. Name of Co., City of Co., Abbrev. State, year, pp. xxx-xxx. |
Conference Paper | J. K. Author, “Title of paper,” presented at the Abbreviated Name of Conf., City of Conf., Abbrev. State, Country, Month and day(s), year, Paper number. |
Lectures | J. K. Author. (Year). Title of lecture [Type of Medium]. Available: URL |
Periodicals | J. K. Author, “Name of paper,” Abbrev. Title of Periodical, vol. x, no. x, pp. xxx-xxx, Abbrev. Month, year. |
Reports | J. K. Author, “Title of report,” Abbrev. Name of Co., City of Co., Abbrev. State, Country, Rep. xxx, year. |
Thesis and Dissertation | J. K. Author, “Title of thesis,” M.S. thesis, Abbrev. Dept., Abbrev. Univ., City of Univ., Abbrev. State, year. |
Website | First Name Initial(s) Last Name. “Page Title.” Website Title. Web Address (retrieved Date Accessed). |
Books | J. K. Author, “Title of chapter in the book,” in Title of His Published Book, xth ed. City of Publisher, (only U.S. State), Country: Abbrev. of Publisher, year, ch. x, sec. x, pp. xxx–xxx. |
We collected an example that helps in your IEEE citation-style research paper.
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Order NowThe Harvard citation style is used in economics, and it is based on an author-date system. Also, in the Harvard style, the body of your paper contains in-text citations.
Here are some tips that you should follow in writing the research paper in Harvard style.
However, some institutes have their own rules for the Harvard style, so check them first and then start writing.
The below table shows different kinds of sources and their Harvard-style format for your research paper.
Source | Format |
Book | Author A and Author B (year) Book Title. Place: Publisher name. |
Journal Articles | Author Surname, Initial. (Year) Title of article. Title of journal, Vol. no. (Part no./Issue/Month), Pages, use p. or pp. |
Thesis or Dissertation | Author Surname, Initial. (Year). Title. Designation (Level, e.g., MSc, PhD.), Institution. |
Report | Author Surname, Initial(s) or Corporate Author., (Year of publication). Title of report. Paper number [if applicable]. Place of Publication: Publisher. |
Here is an example for you to understand this citation style even better.
The following are the tips that you should follow and carefully cite sources in your research paper.
You get a complete guide of different citation styles but need a professional writer’s help writing the research paper. Simply consult strong CollegeEssay.org.
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Nova A. (Literature, Marketing)
As a Digital Content Strategist, Nova Allison has eight years of experience in writing both technical and scientific content. With a focus on developing online content plans that engage audiences, Nova strives to write pieces that are not only informative but captivating as well.
As a Digital Content Strategist, Nova Allison has eight years of experience in writing both technical and scientific content. With a focus on developing online content plans that engage audiences, Nova strives to write pieces that are not only informative but captivating as well.
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