The citation style you choose will largely be dictated by the discipline in which you're writing, and for most assignments your instructor will assign a style to you. However, as you progress through your academic career, you may find more flexibility in choosing a style that works for you. It's always best to check with your instructor and colleagues as to what style is appropriate. If you have flexibility, use the guide below to help you decide.
| Humanities: English, Art History, Philosophy, Music, Religion, Language, Linguistics, Etc. | Social Sciences, Education, Engineering, etc. | History, or the Humanities | Physical, Natural, or Social Sciences |
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Try: MLA MLA style uses parenthetical in-text citations and a "Works Cited" list at the end of a paper to link sources |
Try: APA APA style uses parenthetical in-text citations and a "References" list at the end of the paper to link sources |
Try: Chicago Notes & Bibliography Chicago notes utilizes footnotes and endnotes to link text to sources. |
Try: Chicago Author-Date Chicago author-date utilizes parenthetical in-text citations and a references or works cited list at the end, similar to the APA style. |
| The humanities place emphasis on authorship and interpreting primary sources in a historical context. The author's name is the first piece of information preceding title and publication information on the "Works Cited" list at the end of the work. | These disciplines place emphasis on the date of creation or publication, in an effort to track currency and relevancy. The date is listed immediately following the author's name in the "References" list. | Typically accompanied by a "Bibliography" page. | Typically accompanied by a "References" or "Works Cited" page. |
| MLA Formatting and Style Guide | APA Formatting and Style Guide | CMOS Formatting and Style Guide |
Credit for this chart goes to the University of Washington Libraries.
The Style Guides are located at the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
There are many different reference managers (also called citation managers) to choose from. The Library has guides on four major tools and there are also librarians with some expertise in using these who can provide support.
If you choose Zotero, I recommend you that you check the Library's workshops for Zotero offerings or watch the short videos in this introductory tutorial.