Citing Sources

What is a Citation Style Guide?

Style guides or manuals go beyond listing how to format a citation to a source. They establish standards for consistency in writing: grammar, punctuation, and layout. They discuss how to present tables and figures, how to format headings and page numbers, which words to capitalize or abbreviate, and what nomenclature to use in a field.

Consulting these aspects of a style guide before beginning to write can save time and lead to better communication.

Citation Management Software

The Library has help guides and tutorials on using two different Citation Management Software tools for researching and writing papers. These tools can help you format citations and create bibliographies following the rules of most citation styles.

Zotero is the Library's preferred software and the one that we currently teach in classes. Zotero is a good choice because it integrates with most word processors, including Google Docs, runs on all desktop operating systems, and has strong collaboration tools.

Mendeley may be a good choice in some situations, especially if you need to store and organize a large collection of references.