Citing Your Sources
Proper citation is an essential aspect of scholarship. Citing properly allows your reader or audience to locate the materials you have used. Most importantly, citations give credit to the authors of quoted or consulted information. Failure to acknowledge sources of information properly may constitute plagiarism. For an explicit definition of plagiarism, see the Boston University Academic Conduct Code.
For detailed instructions on how to cite within the text of your paper, please consult a style manual listed in this guide. Please also note: some of the resources listed do not cover every possibility you might encounter when trying to cite your sources. For this reason, it is suggested that you consult a style manual to create your bibliography.
BU Librarians often recommend 
RefWorks as the best tool to manage citations. Accounts are free for the BU community, and most importantly RefWorks can automatically create a bibliography in hundreds of styles. There are other such tools.
Finally, please also see our separate citation guides for Business students or for Science students.
MLA (Modern Language Association) Style
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MLA Handbook by Location: Mugar Reference LB2369 G5Publication Date: 2016Note: access to the companion material at http://www.mlahandbook.org/ is available to individuals who have purchased the Handbook, but not to institutions.
MLA style is widely used by universities, academic presses, and in the humanities subject areas. The association makes some information available through the style section on its site at https://style.mla.org/. Be sure to look through the list of Frequently Asked Questions on their site to get the most pertinent example citations. The 8th edition is the most recent, published in 2016.
General Citation Guides
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Cite Right by Location: Mugar Reference PN171.F56 L55 2006In addition to the four styles listed on this page, this work also includes style samples for ACS (for chemistry), Bluebook and ALWD (for legal), and others. -
Electronic Styles by Location: Mugar Reference PN171 F56 L5
Sci/Eng Reference PN171 F56 L5
Education Reference PN171 F56 L5
Pardee ReferencePN171 F56 L5This print source contains excellent examples of citing electronic information in both APA and MLA styles. -
The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law by Location: Mugar Reference PN4783 A83This work recommended by the Associated Press is in its 43rd edition.
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