For information about citation styles, including instructions and examples of correctly-formatted citations, please see the Simpson Library Guide to Citing Sources.

If you're not sure which style to use, ask your teacher. Bear in mind that some subjects are traditionally associated with certain styles, such as MLA style for language and literature, Chicago/Turabian style for history and the arts, and APA style for psychology and the social sciences.

It takes time to create properly-formatted citations. To speed up the process, we recommend using a citation generator. There are many citation generators on the Internet, including EasyBib, BibMe, and Citation Machine.

Some citation generators do more than just generate citations -- they also help you store and organize the sources you find. One such tool is Zotero. Zotero is free, and highly recommended by UMW librarians. Click here for the Simpson Library guide to Zotero.

Caution: If you use Zotero or another citation generator, be sure to check the citations for errors. Citation generators work using the data that you give them; if any of the inputted data is incorrect (e.g. in spelling or capitalization or punctuation), the citation will also be incorrect. Before you submit your essay, look at each citation and make sure that it matches the example citations provided by UMW.