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Citation and Writing Guides

 

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Library Learning Services
814.865.9257

Questions about citation tools? E-mail us.

Don't know where to start? See the Citation Questions Flowchart
 

Citation Styles (APA, MLA, etc.)

Whenever you use sources such as books, journals, or Web sites in your research papers you must give credit to the original author by properly citing the sources. Citations also help your reader find the sources again. There are a number of different citation styles, depending on the discipline in which you are working. The following links provide guidelines to using a variety of citation styles.

Quick Style Guides

Use these quick guides for examples of how to cite common types of sources in APA, MLA, CSE, and Chicago styles.

Comprehensive Style Guides

These guides provide detailed information on formatting papers and citing sources.

Other Citation Style Guides

Citation Tools

Citation Generators

  • KnightCite Citation Service
    KnightCite is a free online citation generator service from Hekman Library of Calvin College.
  • EasyBib
    EasyBib is a free online citation generator that creates citations in MLA style, 7th edition.
  • Citeus Legalus
    Citeus Legalus is a legal citation generator.

Citation Managers

When working on extensive research projects, you will need to collect, organize and format all your citations. The following tools all allow you to search for and store your references, as well as create in-text citations and bibliographies.

Not sure which citation manager to use? Use this comparison chart.
Download a printable PDF of the citation tools comparison chart.

  • Zotero
    Zotero is a free Firefox extension that helps you collect, manage, and cite your research sources.
  • EndNote
    EndNote is a comprehensive citation management tool that helps users search for, organize and cite bibliographic information.
  • Mendeley
    Mendeley is a free reference manager and academic social network that can help you organize your research library, collaborate with others online, and discover other relevant papers based on what you are reading.

Training

The Libraries at University Park offer citation tools training classes. Check the class schedule for more information.

 

For questions about citation tools, contact the University Libraries’ Citation Tools Help team at ul-cit-tools-help@lists.psu.edu.

Plagiarism Prevention

  • Plagiarism & You- University Libraries/Library Learning Services 
    This interactive tutorial will show you how to use information correctly without plagiarizing. You will learn how to recognize plagiarism, and how to tell the difference between plagiarism and appropriate use of information in research papers.
  • Plagiarism Prevention Resources from Penn State Teaching and Learning with Technology

 

Writing Guides

  • Elements of Style (W. Strunk Jr.) 
    Respected reference work on the principal requirements of plain English style. Concentrates on the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated.
  • The St. Martin's Handbook
    Comprehensive advice on the writing process, including questions, exercises, and a quick guide to the most common writing errors.
  • Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling  (Purdue University Online Writing Lab)
    Printable handouts on the basics of writing correctly
  • Style for Students Online - new guide by Joe Schall (Giles Writer-in-Residence for the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State from 1988 until 2008)
  • Penn State Learning provides free writing help for students