Citing Sources | APA, MLA & Chicago
Citing sources is one of the best ways to make your writing more convincing. It shows your readers that you researched your topic and that you’re conscientious about giving credit where credit is due.
To cite sources, include two types of information:
- In-text citations or footnotes for each sentence that has details from an outside source
- A bibliography at the end of the document with an alphabetized list of all the sources you used
The information that in-text citations and bibliographies should include is determined by the citation style that you’re using. Three of the most common citation styles are APA, MLA, and Chicago.
The details and explanations below show how to cite sources in these three common formats. QuillBot’s free Citation Generator can also help you create citations in virtually any citation format that you’re required to use.
| APA | MLA | |
|---|---|---|
| In-text citation | According to Ackerman (2023), barn owls probably originated in Australia or Africa. | According to Ackerman, barn owls probably originated in Australia or Africa (4). |
| Bibliography |
Ackerman, J. (2023). What an owl knows: The new science of the world’s most enigmatic birds. Penguin Books.
|
Ackerman, Jennifer. What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds. Penguin Books, 2024.
|
How to cite sources overview
Anytime you use outside sources in a piece of writing, follow these steps to make clear and accurate citations.
- Find out what citation format you’re required to use (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago, AMA, or Harvard).
- Determine what type of publication you’re citing. Your required citation format will have slightly different guidelines for different types of sources (e.g., book, journal article, film, etc.).
- Look up the requirements for citing that type of source (e.g., MLA journal article citations).
- Create in-text citations for each sentence where you’re paraphrasing, summarizing, or quoting the source. In-text citations usually include the last name(s) of the author(s) and other details, depending on the citation format. For example, APA requires an author and year, but MLA requires an author and page number.
- Compile all of your sources in a bibliography. Pay close attention to your citation style’s rules for capitalization, italics, and punctuation, as well as the details that are required for each type of publication (e.g., APA movie citations). A citation generator can make this step much faster.
- Proofread the bibliography and in-text citations to ensure everything is accurate and consistent with your citation guidelines.
- In a narrative citation, the author is part of a signal phrase, like this example of an MLA in-text citation:
- Oliveira explains that … (27).
- In a parenthetical citation, the author is in parentheses at the end of the sentence, like this example in MLA style:
- (Oliveira 27).
The sentence’s period always goes after the parentheses because the citation is part of the same sentence that includes the paraphrase or quote.
How to cite APA
APA style is a common requirement for essays and articles about behavioral sciences. For example, assignments for psychology, education, nursing, and business courses often require APA style.
APA in-text citations
The rules for APA in-text citations are different for summarizing/paraphrasing and quoting.
- How to cite a summary or paraphrase in APA: Include the last name(s) of the author(s) and the year of publication in a signal phrase at the beginning of the sentence or in a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence.
- How to cite a quote in APA: Put the author and year in a signal phrase and the page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence. (Or, put the author, year, and page together in parentheses at the end of the sentence.) Before the page number, include the abbreviation “p.” for “page” or “pp.” for a page range.
Paraphrase, parenthetical citation: Coachella Valley was a popular destination for Hollywood stars in the 1920s and 1930s (Treisman, 2025).
Quote: St. John and Vitos (2023) explained, “Mass gatherings are highly immersive social experiences that may strip away belief systems and aspects of the self-concept like layers of an onion” (p. 42).
APA reference list entries
In APA style documents, the bibliography is labeled “References” at the top of the page. Begin each reference list entry with the author, year, and title, followed by other publication details (determined by APA rules for different types of publications).
The following examples show the reference list format for APA book citations, APA journal article citations, and APA website citations (for online-only news articles).
How to cite MLA
MLA is a common citation format for courses in literature, art, philosophy, and cultural studies. Many freshmen/sophomore writing courses at US colleges also require MLA. For example, you might be required to use MLA if you’re writing a research paper for a composition course.
MLA in-text citations
MLA in-text citations include the last name(s) of the author(s) and, in many cases, the page number(s) where you found the information. (You don’t need a year of publication or the abbreviation “p” in MLA citations.) If your source doesn’t have numbered pages, you only need to include the author (e.g., in MLA website citations).
The guidelines for MLA in-text citations stay the same whether you’re quoting, summarizing, or paraphrasing.
Narrative citation, source with pages: Evers explained, “The internet was a disruptive steamroller, transforming access to music and reshaping listening habits, flattening album sales in the process and forcing many of Nashville’s Music Row labels to shrink or disappear” (15–16).
Parenthetical citation, source with pages: Swift launched her career in a small café in a strip mall (Evers 7).
MLA works cited entries
In MLA style documents, start the bibliography with the heading “Works Cited.” Then, start each works cited entry with the author, followed by the title and other publication details, depending on the publication type. The following examples show the format for MLA book citations and MLA website citations.
How to cite Chicago style
Chicago style citations are common in articles, books, and essays about history topics. There are two Chicago style citation systems:
- Notes and bibliography: A superscript number after each sentence that quotes or paraphrases (e.g., 4), a numbered footnote at the bottom of the page to correspond to each superscript number, and a bibliography.
- Author-date: In-text citations with an author, year of publication, and page number as well as a bibliography.
The following examples show how to cite sources with the Chicago notes and bibliography system because it’s more common.
Chicago footnotes
Chicago style footnotes appear on every page where you quote, paraphrase, or summarize details from an outside source. They each begin with a number that corresponds to a superscript number after the sentence you’re citing. There are two types of Chicago footnotes:
- The first time you cite a source, include a full footnote with the author, title, and other details depending on the type of source.
- After the first footnote, use a short note with just the author’s last name and a title.
The following examples show how to make footnotes for Chicago website citations. Other types of sources (e.g., Chicago book citations) need slightly different details.
| Paraphrase | The Brightworks School in California groups students by interest and maturity rather than age.2 |
| Full note |
2. Haas, Michaela. “No Schools and No Teacher: Is This the School of the Future?” Reasons to Be Cheerful, September 2, 2025, https://reasonstobecheerful.world/brightworks-california-school-of-the-future/.
|
| Short note |
5. Haas, “No Schools and No Teacher.”
|
Chicago bibliography
Start a Chicago style bibliography with the heading “Bibliography,” and then provide an entry for every source that has a footnote in your document. A Chicago style bibliography entry usually begins with an author and title. The rest of the details depend on the source type.
The following examples show the format for a book and a website.
Cite this Quillbot article
We encourage the use of reliable sources in all types of writing. You can copy and paste the citation or click the "Cite this article" button to automatically add it to our free Citation Generator.
Kavalakkat, T. (2025, September 08). Citing Sources | APA, MLA & Chicago. Quillbot. Retrieved November 2, 2025, from https://quillbot.com/blog/citation/citing-sources/
