When your teacher asks for a list of sources you used for a project or research paper, there are three common styles that you can use. Some teachers ask for a ‘Works Cited’ page but they might also use ‘Bibliography,’ ‘References,’ or ‘Endnotes.’ They are all pretty much the same thing, but use different formatting or styles. If you aren’t sure which style to use, just ask your teacher, but the general rule is:
- the English Department uses MLA(Modern Language Association)
- the History Department uses Turabian(from the University of Chicago)(Psychology and Sociology are exceptions to this rule)
- the Science Department, Psychology, and Sociology use APA(American Psychological Society)
Listed below are common examples of each style. There’s also a great website called BibMe ( which will format your bibliography for you and download it to a MS Word document.
APA (American Psychological Association)In-the-research-paper citations:
Citations should be placed directly after any quotation from another source, or a source you paraphrased or summarized.
All Sources:
1 author: / (Last name, Year)
2 authors: / (Last name & Last name, Year)
3 authors: / (Last name, Last name & Last name, Year)
4+ authors: / (Last name et al., Year)
Magazine or Newspaper:
No authors: / ("Article title", Year)
Note: for direct quotes add page numbers: (Last name, year, p. #)
Referencespage:
At the end of your paper, you should also include a page with listing of all the sources you used. Title the page ‘References.’ The list should be arranged alphabetically by last name. If you have 2 sources with the same name, then put them in order by date with oldest date first.
Book: / Last, First. (Year). Title. City: Publisher.
Magazine: / Last, First. (Date published). Title of Article. Title of Magazine, Volume, page numbers.
Newspaper: / Last, First. (Date published). Title of Article. Title of Newspaper, volume, page numbers.
Website: / Last, First. (Date published). Title of Website/Article. Retrieved Date, from URL.
Journal: / Last, First. (Year). Title of Article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page numbers.
MLA (Modern Language Association)
In-the-research-paper citations:
Citations should be placed directly after any quotation from another source, or a source you paraphrased or summarized.
Book, Magazine, Newpaper, Journal:
1 author: / (Last name Page)
2 authors: / (Last name and Last name Page)
3 authors: / (Last name, Last name and Last name Page)
4+ authors: / (Last name et al)
Encyclopedia:
any authors: / (Encyclopedia Name)
Works Citedpage:
The last page of your paper should be titled ‘Works Cited’ and be arrangedalphabetically by author’s last name. If there is more than one source for an author, then alphabetize them by the first word in the title.
Book: / Last, First. Title. City: Publisher, Year.
Magazine: / Last, First. “Title of Article.” Title of Magazine Date published: page numbers.
Newspaper: / Last, First. “Title of Article.” Title of Newspaper [City] Date Published, Edition, Section: page numbers.
Website: / Last, First. “Title of Page.” Title of Site. Editor.Date and/or version no. Date of access <URL>.
Journal: / Last, First. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): page numbers.
Turabian (Chicago)
Endnote entries:
Citations should be placed on an Endnotes page in order by number. When you use a source a second time, you can use a shorter version (see example below).
Book: / First Last. Title. City: Publisher, Year.
Magazine: / Last, First. “Title of Article.” Title of Magazine, Date published.
Newspaper: / Last, First. “Title of Article.” Title of Newspaper, Date published, Section, Edition (location).
Website: / Last, First. “Title of Page.” Title of Site. URL (accessed Date).
Journal: / Last, First. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal Volume (Year): page numbers.
Format your endnotes with Microsoft Word. Click on Insert, then Reference, next Footnote, and finally select Endnote. Remember to use italics for the tile, and no “p.” or “page” just the number by itself with a period at the end.
1. Leslie Adkins, AncientRome (New York: Facts on File, 1993),124.
2.Don Nardo. The Roman Colosseum(San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1998), 72.
The next time you use a source, shorten it to the author’s last name, page.
3. Adkins,84.
Note: The Pocket Handbook for History is available from your history teacher or the library and has many examples.
LM 9/12/2008