This document discusses citations and how to cite sources in a research paper. It explains that a citation gives credit to the sources of ideas and words used. Citations appear in both the body of the paper as parenthetical citations and at the end in a Works Cited list, where full citations are listed alphabetically by author's last name. Examples are provided of how to format citations for books, webpages, websites, and how parenthetical citations correspond to full citations in the Works Cited list.

1. What are citations?
 A citation is a reference to a source used
in a research project.
 Whenever you use another person’s ideas
or words in a research paper, you must
cite, or give credit, to that person.
 That’s called citing your source.
Hughes, Langston. The Big Sea, An Autobiography. New York: Hill and Wang,
1963. Print.
“Faces of the Renaissance.” Drop Me Off in Harlem. 20 March 2007. Web.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. 20 Nov. 2008.

2. Book Citations
 Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of
Publication: Publisher, Year of
Publication. Medium of Publication.
Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1998. Print.

3. Webpage
 Editor, author, or compiler name (if available).
“Name of Page.” Name of Site. Version
number. Name of institution/organization
affiliated with the site (sponsor or
publisher), date of resource creation (if
available). Medium of publication. Date of
access.
“MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web Publications).” The
Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL
at Purdue and Purdue U, 2010. Web. 16 Sep. 2010.

4. Entire Website
 Editor, author, or compiler name (if available).
Name of Site. Version number. Name of
institution/organization affiliated with the
site (sponsor or publisher), date of
resource creation (if available). Medium of
publication. Date of access.
The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at
Purdue and Purdue U, 2010. Web. 16 Sep. 2010.

5. Works Cited
Sources are put in the Works Cited list in
alphabetical order, double-spaced, and
indented one-half inch.
Here is an excerpt from a final Works
Cited list.
Works Cited
Hughes, Langston. The Big Sea, An Autobiography. New York: Hill and
Wang, 1963. Print.
Philipson, Robert. “The Harlem Renaissance As Postcolonial Phenomenon.”
African American Review 1 Sept. 2006: 145-160. Print.

6. Parenthetical/In-text Citations
Listing all your sources in the Works Cited list is
an important part of your research paper.
In the body of your paper, you also need to tell
exactly where you found any information that
came from other sources.
You do that using a parenthetical citation.
He sat listening to long, beautiful stories about freedom
from his proud grandmother; and in her stories, there
were no tears (Hughes 32).

7. Match them up!
In-text citations use the FIRST part of the entry for identification
in the body of the papers.
He sat listening to long, beautiful stories about
freedom from his proud grandmother; and in her
stories, there were no tears (Hughes 32).
Hughes, Langston. The Big Sea, An Autobiography. New
York: Hill and Wang, 1963. Print.
“MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web Publications).” The
Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL
at Purdue and Purdue U, 2010. Web. 16 Sep. 2010.