What is a Citation?
A citation is a way to tell readers that material in your work came from another source and gives readers the information necessary to find that source again. It's sort of like the address of a work.
Anatomy of a Citation Simplified
Citation Styles
A style guide is a set of standards for the writing, formatting and design of research papers. Different disciplines may use MLA, Chicago, Turabian or other styles.
The Emory School of Nursing uses APA Style from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. APA style is used by the business, social sciences, health, and education fields.
What's in a Citation?
Article or book citations can look different depending on the citation style used and where it is being published. Generally though, you’ll see the same elements within the citation.
A citation describes a source by presenting information about that source (book, article, web page, etc.) in a standard format. It tells:
- What was written - the title
- Who wrote it - the author and/or editor
- When - the date of book, article or web page
- Where it was published and by whom - the journal name; volume/issue/page numbers; the publisher and city; or the host of the web page
The citation examples shown here are in APA style.
Article
Book
Book Chapter
eBook
