Learn How to Cite a Research Paper in a Right Format

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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.

What is a Citation Style?

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:

Enable better verification of your work.
Allow the reader to know where you get information for your research work.
Give proper credit to the authors for which work you used in your research paper.
Help the writers to avoid committing plagiarism in their work.
Make your writing piece more credible and reliable.

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:

Name of the author
Name of the book, article, or other resources
The year of publication
The place of publication
Page numbers
The name of the website

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.

How to Cite a Research Paper in Different Referencing Styles?

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:

APA (American Psychological Association)
MLA (Modern Language Association)
Chicago citation style
ASA (American Sociological Association)
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
Harvard citation style

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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APA Research Paper Format

APA 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.

Use 1’’ margins on all sides of the page.
Double spacing is required throughout the paper.
Use 12 pt font size.
Top left of every page, add a header that includes a short title.

Also, in APA format style paper, the research paper should include:

Title Page
Abstract
Main body
References

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

APA Format In-Text Citation

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:

Author’s last name
Year of publication

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:

Parenthetical
Narrative

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

APA Format Sample Paper

MLA Research Paper Format

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.

Use 1’’ margins on the top, bottom, and sides.
Use double spacing throughout the paper.
Keep the font size 12pt.
Write the title of the paper in the title case.
Write all the text in Times New Roman.
Place last name and page number at the top left of the page.

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.
Twitter	@twitterhandel. “Description.” Twitter, date, time. URL.
Instagram	Last name, first name. “Description” Website Title, date, URL.

Check this sample and write a research paper in MLA format without any difficulty.

MLA Format Sample Paper

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Chicago Style Research Paper Format

Several 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.

All text should be double-spaced except for block quotes.
Use 1’’ margins on all sides of the page.
Keep the font size 12pt.
Write all the text in Times New Roman.
Page number includes at the header of the first page.
New paragraphs ½ inch indented.

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.
Twitter	Last name, First name. Twitter Post. Month Day, Year, Time. Tweet URL.
Instagram	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.

Chicago Style Sample Paper

ASA Research Paper Format

The Sociological Association creates this citation style, and scholars use it for writing sociology research papers.

The main elements of the ASA paper are:

Title Page
Citation and In-Text Citation
Heading
References

Here are some formatting tips that help you in writing the research paper in ASA forma

In the top right corner of the page, include page numbers.
Use double spacing throughout the paper.
Keep the font size 12 pt.
Use 1 ¼ margin on all sides of the page.
The text must be readable and use Times New Roman font.

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.

ASA Sample Paper

IEEE Style Research Paper Format

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:

Author’s name
Title of the work
Title of journal or book

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.

IEEE Citation Example

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Harvard Style Research Paper Format

The 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.

Arranged reference list alphabetically.
Only the title of the source should be in italics and underlined.
Use double-spacing.

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.

Harvard Style Paper

Tips for Citing a Research Paper

The following are the tips that you should follow and carefully cite sources in your research paper.

Follow your professor’s guidelines regarding the selection of citation style.
Only cite relevant sources.
Use quotation marks where needed.
Separate the multiple author names with a comma.
Write the issue number in parentheses when citing periodicals.
Proofread the citing references before submission or publication.

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.