Choosing a Citation Style
All academic writing requires the use of citations. Each citation style is part of a larger writing style guide associated with an academic discipline or professional association.
Some of your classes may allow or require you to use a particular citation style. Below, we’ve listed the most commonly used citation styles, but there are many others. Use whichever style meets the requirements of your assignment.
- MLA Citation Guide — Modern Language Association style, used by disciplines in the humanities
- APA Citation Guide — American Psychological Association style, used in education, psychology, and many social sciences
- CMS Citation Guide — Chicago Manual of Style, and the closely related Turabian style, used in business, history, and the fine arts
- CSE Citation Guide — Council of Science Editors style, used for writing in the natural sciences
If you are looking for guidance on citation managers to help organize your sources, check out our Create Bibliographies Guide.
