To avoid plagiarism, you must cite any information and ideas that are not your own. Style guides provide examples of the correct format for creating citations along with general information on writing research papers. There are many different style guides in existence, developed for use with specific subjects such as the humanities, social sciences, medicine, law, chemistry, and the sciences. Before beginning your paper, you should ask your instructor which style should be used for your paper.
The links below will provide you with specific examples of how to cite sources and prepare a document according to the 6th Edition (2009) of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. This is the guide most frequently used when writing in the social sciences.
The links below are to citation generators. These are sites that allow you to add citation information to a form and submit it, and then receive a properly formatted citation in the style of your choosing. They work for APA, MLA, and other major citation styles.
NOTE: Be sure to check the references generated by these tools against a style manual or other credible source.