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How do I cite my sources?

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Five Things to Know

  1. Citing your sources is more than just listing URLs at the end. The reference list will follow a specific format and sources will be listed in alphabetical order by author. The citation style for researched-based writing will vary depending on the course you’re taking.
  2. Common citation styles at PSU include APA (for social sciences, criminal justice, and sometimes business courses), MLA (for humanities courses, e.g. English), Chicago (for history courses), and AMS (for meteorology). Be sure to check assignment guidelines for which citation style to use.
  3. In-text citation is an important element of research-based writing. This means citing within the body of the paper so that your audience knows where you found specific information. A source might be introduced in the body of a sentence or cited in parentheses at the end of that sentence.
  4. In general, cite at least one source in every paragraph/presentation slide of a research-based assignment.
  5. Do not include sources on the reference list that have not been cited within the paper/presentation.

People Who Can Help

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A Deeper Dive

  1. Use hanging indent style for reference lists. Sources are listed alphabetically by the author’s last name or the organization’s name if it’s an organizational author. If no author is identified, alphabetize the entry by the first word of the title.
  2. Secondary source or indirect citation is when you cite ideas/quotes from an author that you found in another author’s publication. In APA, an in-text citation might look like this: (Morrison, 1988, as cited in Crowe et al., 2019). In MLA, an indirect citation might look like this: (qtd. in Weckert 32).
  3. Secondary sources are not cited on the reference list; only include the source you actually used. (It’s better to find the original source if you can, so use indirect citation sparingly.)
  4. Sometimes page numbers are not available. Check citation guidelines for the style you’re using to see if a paragraph/section number or section title would work instead. When quoting from an audiovisual source, you can use a timestamp rather than a page number.
  5. Sometimes information can be found in more than one source. It’s okay to cite multiple sources in a single parenthetical citation.
This resource was last updated on January 19, 2023

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How do I cite my sources?
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