Signal phrases are used to attribute information to the original source. This is important as it enables you to:
Paraphrasing plagiarism happens when someone paraphrases an outside source in a piece of writing without giving credit to the original source.
When you paraphrase ideas from outside sources in your own words, you must show where that information came from in order to avoid plagiarism. Sentences that have paraphrased information should include in-text citations.
An in-text citation includes the author’s name at a minimum, and depending on the citation style you’re using, it might include other elements such as a year of publication or a page number.
For example, APA in-text citations for paraphrases should include the author and year of publication.
You can avoid paraphrasing plagiarism by using QuillBot’s free Plagiarism Checker to look for paraphrases in your writing that need citations.
The difference between a footnote and an endnote is the location in a document.
MLA footnotes and endnotes both begin with a superscript number that matches the same superscript number in the document’s prose. The number directs readers to the note with extra information.
Footnotes go at the bottom of the same page as the corresponding superscript number.
Endnotes go on a separate Notes page after the essay or article but before the Works Cited page.
When you’re writing footnotes or endnotes, QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker can help you avoid errors.
MLA uses footnotes or endnotes as optional ways to share additional information with readers without interrupting the flow of ideas. MLA footnotes and endnotes are not for documenting sources like MLA in-text citations.
Footnotes go at the bottom of each page, and endnotes go on a separate page entitled “Notes” before the Works Cited page. Books and academic journals in MLA style use endnotes.
For both systems, a superscript number in the text directs readers to a corresponding note with the same number.
In the long term, regenerative practices can improve profits for small family farms by minimizing equipment and supply costs.⁵
Endnote/footnote:
MLA accepts either system as long as the document stays consistent with just one of them. (You can use footnotes or endnotes, but not both in the same document.)
When you’re writing footnotes or endnotes, QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker can help you avoid errors.
A DOI in an APA reference list entry is a string of numbers and letters that has been assigned to an article or book. It’s also a hyperlink that readers can follow to see more publication details.
“DOI” is an acronym that stands for “Digital Object Identifier.” Almost every scholarly source has a DOI, even books and journal articles that were written before the DOI system started.
The DOI goes at the end of the reference list entry, like this example for a book in APA.
QuillBot’s free APA Citation Generator can help you create reference list entries with DOIs. QuillBot’s writing pad online can help you keep track of all relevant source information to ensure your citations are accurate.
APA title capitalization can be sentence case or title case depending on the type of source and where you’re using the title in the document.
Title case means that you capitalize the first word, major words (e.g., “job” or “parents”), and all minor words that are four letters or longer (e.g., “with”), but not minor words like “at” or “the.”
Sentence case means that you only capitalize the words that you’d capitalize in a sentence—the first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon.
When you mention a title within the prose of your document, always use title case (e.g., “The Paradox of Stay-at-Home Parents” in The Atlantic).
In reference list entries, use sentence case for any work that’s contained within a larger source (such as a journal article) as well as self-contained works (e.g., books or websites). The following is an example of a reference entry for a book in APA style.
Use title case for the titles of periodicals (e.g., journals) in reference list entries, such as this example for a journal article in APA.
QuillBot’s free APA Citation Generator can help you follow APA guidelines for title capitalization in your own writing.
The APA page number format for in-text citations is (author, date, p. xx) or (p. xx) depending on whether you’re using a parenthetical or a narrative in-text citation.
APA only requires page numbers for direct quotations. Page numbers are optional for paraphrasing and summarizing.
When you quote and cite a book in APA style (or any other paginated source), the page number or page range (if the quotation spans two pages) should look like these examples.
Bradshaw and Ellis (2016) explained, “Cats instinctively like to go into small spaces because they feel secure there, and their exceptional agility means that they know that if they have to, they can quickly make their escape” (pp. 179–180).
QuillBot’s free APA Citation Generator can help you quote and cite page numbers correctly in APA format.
APA capitalization rules depend on what part of a paper you are writing. In the body of the text, standard capitalization rules should be followed (e.g., capitalize proper nouns and lowercase common nouns).
For titles of works and headings, APA Style uses two types of capitalization:
| Use | Examples | |
|---|---|---|
| Title case | Titles of articles, books, and other works in the body of the text | Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams was a seminal influence … |
| The title of the paper itself | Depression and Anxiety in Students Experiencing Homelessness | |
| Headings and figure and table titles | Theoretical Background | |
| Titles of journals and other periodicals on the reference page | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology | |
| Sentence case | Titles of articles, books, reports, and webpages on the reference page | Stellar, J. E., & Willer, R. (2018). Unethical and inept? The influence of moral information on perceptions of competence. […] |
| Table column headings and entries, table and figure notes | Number of participants |
Chicago style has two citation formats: notes and bibliography and author-date.
Notes and bibliography is the more common format. In it, footnotes are used in the body of the text, and a bibliography is included at the end. A full note is used the first time a source is cited and a shortened note (with only author, title, and page number) thereafter.
| Full footnote |
1. Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses (Penguin UK, 2021), 22–25.
|
| Shortened footnote |
2. Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 22–25.
|
| Bibliographic entry |
Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses. Penguin UK, 2021.
|
In author-date format, parenthetical citations are used instead of footnotes. The in-text citation includes the author’s last name and date (e.g., Kimmerer 2021). A full bibliography is included at the end.
QuillBot’s Online Notepad can help you keep track of all relevant source information.
The main difference between paraphrasing and summarizing is that paraphrasing involves rewording part of an outside source, but summarizing involves describing what an entire source is mainly about.
A paraphrase rephrases a specific fact, statistic, or idea from an outside source that you’re using as evidence in academic writing.
A summary is a synopsis that describes the main topic and key points of a complete text (e.g., an article) in order to give your readers context about why the source is significant. Summaries are common in literature reviews and annotated bibliographies.
To avoid plagiarism, use your own words anytime you paraphrase or summarize an article or other source and give credit to the original source with a signal phrase or an in-text citation.
If you need help with paraphrasing and summarizing, QuillBot’s free Paraphrasing Tool can reword ideas from another source. QuillBot’s free Citation Generator can also help you create in-text citations.
You always have to cite a paraphrase in order to avoid plagiarism.
An in-text citation helps your readers differentiate between your original ideas and other writers’ ideas.
The format for in-text citations varies by each citation style (e.g., APA, MLA, or Chicago). In MLA writing, in-text citations should include the author’s last name and the page number where the information is located in the original source.
QuillBot’s free Citation Generator can help you cite a paraphrase in your writing.
You should paraphrase information instead of using a direct quote when the information that you’re sharing with your readers is more important than the original source’s style of writing.
Use paraphrases to share facts and statistics from outside sources. In this situation, the original author’s wording is less important than the information. Paraphrasing helps you maintain your own writing voice.
Use direct quotes from outside sources in these situations:
Whether you paraphrase or quote another writer’s ideas, use in-text citations to avoid plagiarism.
QuillBot’s free Citation Generator can help you create in-text citations for direct quotes and paraphrases.
You can paraphrase a source without plagiarizing by following both of these steps.
APA style paraphrase: According to Ridder (2023), almost two-thirds of adults born after 2000 reported that they never drink coffee.
If you need help paraphrasing a source without plagiarizing, QuillBot’s free Paraphraser can reword excerpts from outside sources. QuillBot’s free Plagiarism Checker will help you find paraphrases in your writing that need in-text citations.
To write a journal article title in MLA, capitalize the following words:
Do not capitalize prepositions (e.g., “before” or “between”), coordinating conjunctions, or “to” when it’s part of an infinitive unless any of these are the first or last word of the title or the first word after a colon.
Also place article titles in quotation marks. For the title of the journal that contains the article, use the same capitalization rules and italics rather than quotation marks.
These guidelines apply to MLA journal article citations and any titles within an MLA document.
You can also use QuillBot’s free Citation Generator to create Works Cited entries and in-text citations for journal articles.
“Et al.” means “and others.” It is used to save space in in-text citations when citing a source with three or more authors; you use it after the first author’s name in place of the remaining names.
APA Style, like MLA style, does not permit the use of “ibid.” Both MLA and APA Style use in-text parenthetical citations, and footnotes are used only to add further information, not for citations.
Regardless of the citation style you use, every source you reference in your academic writing should be cited correctly. QuillBot’s Citation Generator can help you cite sources correctly, and our online Plagiarism Checker can help ensure your writing is free of accidental plagiarism.
Chicago style still permits the use of “ibid.,” but the use of short notes is preferred. In either case, the choice to use “ibid.” or short notes should be consistent.
In any case, every source you reference in your academic writing should be cited correctly. QuillBot’s Citation Generator can help you cite sources correctly, and our online Plagiarism Checker can help ensure your writing is free of accidental plagiarism.
“Ibid.” is included only in footnotes or endnotes and should not be used as an in-text citation. Additionally, not all style guides (e.g., APA, MLA) permit the use of “ibid.”
Once you have included the full citation for a source, “ibid.” can be used to refer back to that source in the next citation. It cannot be used if there are other intervening citations.
Every source you reference in your academic writing should be cited correctly. QuillBot’s Citation Generator can help you cite sources correctly, and our online Plagiarism Checker can help ensure your writing is free of accidental plagiarism.
When to use et al. in APA in-text citations depends on which edition of the APA Publication Manual you are using.
In APA 6th edition, works with three to five authors are listed using “et al.” after the first citation.
Example: “Freeman, Taylor, and Werg (2024) reject this hypothesis. Instead, their data indicates that the opposite is true (Freeman et al., 2024).”
In APA 7th edition, works with three or more authors are listed using “et al.” after the first author’s name from the first citation.
Example: “Freeman et al. (2024) reject this hypothesis.”
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How you use “et al.” in citations depends on the style guide you are using.
In MLA, “et al.” is used both for in-text citations and the Works Cited page when a source has three or more authors.
In APA 6th edition, works with three to five authors are listed using “et al.” after the first citation. In APA 7th edition, works with three or more authors are listed using “et al.” from the first in-text citation.
In Chicago style, works with four or more authors are listed using “et al.” from the first citation.
APA Style uses sentence-style capitalization for article titles in the reference list, which means only the first word and any proper nouns are capitalized (e.g., “Language production and serial order”).
Sentence-style capitalization is also used for book and webpage titles.
However, for the titles of journals, headline-style capitalization is used. This means all words except prepositions, conjunctions, and articles are capitalized (e.g., Journal of Communications Technology and Electronics).
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Write time in MLA format to create a time stamp for in-text citations of audio and video sources (e.g, a movie or a song). The format is hh:mm:ss (hour:minute:second) with a colon between each element.
This in-text citation has an abbreviated title of the video (because there’s no author) and a timestamp, which directs readers to the 1 minute and 47 seconds spot of the video.
QuillBot’s free Citation Generator can help you create time stamps and use MLA date format in Works Cited entries.
To cite a personal communication in APA, omit a reference page entry, but include an APA in-text citation.
In sentences that quote or paraphrase the person you spoke with, include their name in a signal phrase. In parentheses, include the words “personal communication” and the date of the interview or conversation.
You can also put the interviewee’s name in parentheses with “personal communication” and the date.
Another mental health provider believes that increasing protein and limiting refined sugars can improve mood and executive function (Wanda Hays, personal communication, July 15, 2023).
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To write a title in an APA film citation on the references page, use italics and sentence case. Only capitalize the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns.
APA film title example
These guidelines for titles in APA movie citations only apply to APA reference page entries. Film titles are not part of APA in-text citations.
If you mention a movie in the main text of a paper, use italics and title case (e.g., Three Identical Strangers). Capitalize all major words and minor words that are four letters or longer (e.g., “With”).
QuillBot’s Notepad can help you take notes online to keep track of relevant source information. You can also use QuillBot’s free Citation Generator to create APA film citations.
A block quote in MLA is five or more lines of prose on your page or four or more lines of poetry from the page where the poem was published.
To determine if you need block format for long quotations of prose, type the quotation in your document. If it’s more than four lines, use MLA block quote format:
QuillBot’s free MLA Citation Generator can help you create accurate in-text citations for block quotations.
To cite a government report in APA, start by looking for the author, which can be one or more people, a division of a larger government agency, or the government agency at large. Then, you’ll need the following details for an APA reference page entry:
| Author type | Reference entry |
|---|---|
| Individual(s) |
Eaves, S. (2024, October 28). Lead in private well water and its impacts on children’s health. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/perspectives/lead-private-well-water-and-its-impacts-childrens-health
|
| Division of a government agency |
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2024). Highlight of women’s earnings in 2023. U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/womens-earnings/2023/home.htm
|
| Government agency at large |
Canada Council for the Arts. (2024). 2023–24 annual report. https://canadacouncil.ca/-/media/Files/CCA/Corporate/Annual-Reports/en/2023-24_Annual-Report.pdf
|
Each time you paraphrase an idea from a government report, an APA in-text citation should include the author (whether it’s a person or the government organization) and the year of publication. Citations for quotations need page numbers as well.
QuillBot’s free Citation Generator can help you create APA PDF citations and other types of citations. Additionally, our Notepad can help you take online notes to keep track of the sources you consult.
An abstract is a standalone document that’s separate from an essay or journal article. It summarizes the entire content of the essay or article so that readers can decide if they should read the full text. An APA abstract should be a maximum of 250 words.
An introduction prepares readers for the body paragraphs of an essay or article. Rather than summarizing all of the essay or article’s contents, an introduction hooks the reader, provides essential background information, and states the thesis.
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An abstract is usually 150–250 words long. It’s a paragraph on a separate page before an essay or article. The maximum length for an APA abstract is 250 words. To write an abstract that is the right length, summarize your main topic and key arguments or findings in a few sentences.
When you’re writing abstracts, QuillBot’s free Paraphrasing Tool can help you write concisely and choose the best words.
When you write movie titles in MLA, use italics, and capitalize all of the main words, which include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and subordinating conjunctions.
Minor words, such as prepositions (e.g., “behind” or “with”) and coordinating conjunctions (e.g., “and” or “but”) should not be capitalized unless they’re the first or last word of the title or the first word after a colon.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Use these guidelines in MLA movie citations or when you mention a film in the main text.
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The date format for an MLA header is either day-month-year or month-day-year. MLA accepts either of these formats, but it also requires you to spell out the full name of the month in your heading.
If you use month-day-year format, place a comma between the day and year.
Professor Bennett
Composition I
30 September 2024
Grace Eldridge
Professor Rivera
Sociology 101
October 15, 2024
If you include dates in the main text of your paper, use the same MLA date format that you chose for your heading.
QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker can help you proofread MLA documents to ensure that they’re error free.
To cite a source with no date in MLA, write a Works Cited entry that includes an access date instead of a publication date.
The access date goes at the end of a Works Cited entry, followed by a period.
Semtner, Christopher P. “12 Stories behind Edgar Allen Poe’s Terror Tales.” Biography, biography.com/authors-writers/edgar-allan-poe-horror-stories-facts. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
The access date should follow MLA date format for Works Cited entries (day-month-year with abbreviations for months longer than four letters).
QuillBot’s free Citation Generator can help you format access dates correctly in MLA Works Cited entries.
In APA references, the titles of books, webpages, and reports are italicized, as are the titles and volume numbers of journals and other periodicals.
The titles of articles or book chapters are not italicized.
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Abbreviate months in MLA format for publication dates or access dates in Works Cited entries. MLA requires abbreviations for all months except May, June, and July.
The abbreviations for MLA date format are Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec.
Studach, Mel. “Inside SNL Star Heidi Gardner’s Midcentury
Home, a Disco Fantasy Come True.” Architectural Digest, 29 Oct. 2024, www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/heidi-gardner-inside-the-snl-stars-midcentury-disco-fantasy.
Don’t abbreviate months in the heading or main text of an MLA document (e.g., “Harry Potter was born on July 31, 1980.”)
QuillBot’s free Citation Generator can help you format months and dates correctly in MLA Works Cited entries.
MLA month abbreviations are part of the MLA date format for Works Cited entries.
When a Works Cited entry includes a publication date or access date, MLA requires abbreviations for all months that are longer than four letters. The MLA abbreviations are Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec.
These abbreviations do not apply to the heading or the main text, where MLA requires the full month names (e.g., “February 14, 2025”).
When you’re writing MLA Works Cited entries, QuillBot’s free Citation Generator can help you format months and dates correctly.
The MLA format for a poem title is to use quotation marks around the title and to capitalize all of the principal words. Capitalize nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and subordinating conjunctions.
Minor words, such as prepositions (e.g., “behind” or “with”) and coordinating conjunctions (e.g., “and” or “but”) should not be capitalized unless they’re the first or last word of the title or the first word after a colon.
The guidelines apply to MLA poetry citations on the Works Cited page and any titles that you mention in the main text.
You can also use QuillBot’s free Citation Generator to format poem titles correctly in MLA writing and Works Cited entries.
The following guidelines will help you correctly include a DOI or URL in APA style journal article citations or APA book citations.
DOIs and URLs are sometimes necessary in reference entries but never in in-text citations.
For all sources that have DOIs, put the DOI at the end of the reference entry. The DOI should be a hyperlink that readers can follow for more details about the publication.
If a DOI isn’t listed on the source, you can usually search for the DOI online. If you confirm that a source doesn’t have a DOI, you can omit it from the references entry.
Only include a URL (in place of a DOI) for journal articles that don’t have DOIs and that you accessed on the journal’s homepage.
QuillBot’s free Citation Generator can help you use DOIs and URLs correctly in your APA reference entries.
| A journal article is a type of scholarly source that is common in academic writing. Journals are periodicals, which means that they are published multiple times per year (like magazines).
Each journal is focused on a specific aspect of a larger academic field. For example, within the broader field of nursing, there are scholarly journals about nursing education, intensive care nursing, cardiovascular nursing, and many other subcategories. Each issue of a journal includes multiple articles by different authors. Journal articles often focus on original research experiments. If you quote, paraphrase, or summarize journal articles in your writing, follow the format for APA style journal article citations, MLA citations, or whichever citation format you’re using. You can also use QuillBot’s free Citation Generator to create journal article citations. |
Cite a book chapter in MLA when each chapter has a different author listed in the table of contents and/or on the first page of each chapter.
In MLA book citations for chapters in edited books, include the chapter author and a page range in each in-text citation (Smith 234). In the Works Cited entry, include the following details.
(An edition or volume number before the page range is only necessary if the book has multiple editions/volumes.)
You can also use QuillBot’s free Citation Generator to create Works Cited entries and in-text citations for chapters in edited books.
When you write a book title in MLA, use italics and capitalize all of the principal words—nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and subordinating conjunctions.
Also capitalize the first and last words and the first word after a colon. Minor words, such as prepositions (e.g., “over” or “under”) and coordinating conjunctions (e.g., “and” or “but”) should not be capitalized.
The following MLA book citation example shows how to format a title.
You can also use QuillBot’s free Citation Generator to format titles correctly in MLA writing and Works Cited entries.
To cite a government website in MLA, begin the Works Cited entry with the name of the country, the department name, and then the committee or division name if applicable. Separate each part of the government with a comma.
The rest of the Works Cited entry should have the title of the page/article/report in quotation marks, the website name in italics, the publication date, and the URL.
The in-text MLA website citation should include the name of the government department and a page number if there are numbered pages to cite. If there aren’t numbered pages, only cite the department name, which you can also abbreviate.
In-text citation:
(US Dept. of Labor)
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To write a website title in MLA, use quotation marks for the page or article title and italics for the website name.
For both titles, capitalize all of the principal words (e.g., nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and subordinating conjunctions).
Don’t capitalize minor words, which include prepositions (e.g., “above” or “between”), coordinating conjunctions, or “to” when it’s part of an infinitive unless any of these words are the first or last word of the website name or the first word after a colon.
Website titles in MLA website citations don’t need “.com” or other details from the URL.
QuillBot’s free Citation Generator can help you use correct capitalization and formatting in MLA website citations.
You only need a page number in an MLA website citation when the source has numbered pages.
Most MLA website citations don’t have page numbers because websites don’t usually have numbered pages. MLA in-text citations for sources without numbered pages only include the author.
You can cite the author in the narrative of the sentence or in parentheses at the end of the sentence, like this example (Currin).
If you’re citing a PDF version of a report from a website, include the author and the page number of the information you’re quoting or paraphrasing, like this example (Carr 5).
Works Cited entries for websites, whether they’re paginated or not, don’t need page numbers.
QuillBot’s free Citation Generator can help you write correct MLA website citations.
Do not italicize article titles in MLA writing. Instead, place article titles in quotation marks (e.g., “Quincy Jones’s Legacy in 14 Essential Songs”).
Do italicize the titles of journals, magazines, and newspapers that contain individual articles (e.g., The New York Times).
These guidelines apply to MLA journal article citations and MLA style prose (e.g., a sentence in an essay that mentions an article title).
QuillBot’s free Citation Generator can help you format journal article titles correctly on a Works Cited page.
To cite an indirect source in APA in-text citations, include the author name and date where available, followed by “as cited in” and the author name and date of the secondary source you are using.
Parenthetical: (Weber, 2010, as cited in Baqqa, 2016)
Narrative: Weber (2010, as cited in Baqqa, 2016) claims that …
QuillBot’s writing pad online can help you keep track of all relevant source information.
Tertiary sources are generally not cited directly in academic writing. However, they can be useful as a jumping-off point when you begin the research process.
When you’re starting your research, you can use tertiary sources to:
Tertiary sources can direct you to primary and secondary sources that you can use later during the writing process.
Wikipedia is not generally considered a credible source on its own. This is because Wikipedia is an open-access platform that anyone can edit at any time. Thus, while Wikipedia can be helpful when just starting out in your research, it should not be cited among your sources in your final paper.
However, you can use the references cited in Wikipedia articles to access the research materials the articles are based on. If a Wikipedia article cites academic sources such as journal articles, go directly to these sources to perform more in-depth research. These sources can be used to support your paper.
You should always include a citation for the sources you use to support any academic text.
In-text citations must accompany any material that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized. The in-text citation should direct the reader to the full reference entry in the references list or bibliography.
The format of your citations and reference entries is determined by the citation style you are using (e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago).
Quillbot’s Citation Generator can help you to create and manage your citations throughout the research process.
Sources can be vetted using the CRAAP test as well as checked for the following points to ensure credibility:
Quillbot’s Citation Generator tool can help you to create and manage your citations throughout the research process.
Strong academic research requires engagement with information from other researchers, but this is only valid when the sources used are accurate. Online information and published articles may exhibit bias, lack credibility, or lack evidence to support their claims.
Information literacy denotes the range of skills you need to be able to decipher the credibility of a source. Information literacy and critical thinking are fundamental to academic research and responsible media consumption more broadly. It is also essential to compare and contrast sources.
QuillBot offers a free notepad online that can help you keep track of your notes and all the sources you consult.
Newspaper and magazine articles can function as primary or secondary sources depending on how you use them for your research.
In a historical study, for example, you might use contemporary newspaper articles as direct evidence of the time period. In social and communication studies, you might examine the language or content of an article to glean insights into the particular phenomenon under study (e.g., through a content analysis or discourse analysis).
If you are using an article to furnish background information or facts about the topic, the article functions as a secondary source.
Any articles you use should be cited appropriately and included in your references list. You can use QuillBot’s Citation Generator to automatically generate citations for all types of sources.
Biographies are generally secondary sources as they present information about the life of someone else. The author will likely consult primary sources to compose the biography, such as personal letters, archival records (e.g., birth registries), or diaries. In contrast, an autobiography is a primary source as it is a firsthand account of one’s own life.
However, if you are researching the ways in which a particular figure’s life has been represented, then biographies written about the person would function as primary sources.
Any time a biography or other source is used, it must be accompanied by a citation and reference entry to avoid plagiarism. You can use QuillBot’s Citation Generator to automatically generate citations for all types of sources.
Secondary sources include textbooks, journal or newspaper articles, reviews, essays, or biographies.
Secondary sources summarize, analyze, and interpret primary sources. Sources that provide an overview on a topic or give another researcher’s views are generally secondary sources.
To evaluate whether a source is a primary or secondary source, ask the following questions:
Some sources generally always serve as primary sources. These include artworks and literature, raw statistics, official documents and records, and personal communications such as journal entries or interviews.
Primary sources are generally considered the most credible evidence to use to support an argument because they are directly involved with the research subject. However, you should still vet these sources for reliability and accuracy.
All sources you use must be accompanied by a citation to avoid plagiarism. You can use QuillBot’s Citation Generator to automatically generate citations for all types of sources.
Primary sources include statistical data, speeches, transcripts, photographs or videos, original artistic or literary works, and historical documents.
If you analyze something directly, it functions as a primary source. This includes your own original quantitative or qualitative data.
In-text citations should always come before punctuation, including periods, commas, semicolons, and dashes. You can include a citation mid-sentence or at the end of the sentence.
Your research problem and the way you use a source will determine whether it is tertiary.
The following questions can help you evaluate whether something is a tertiary source:
Page numbers are only necessary in APA in-text citations when material is directly quoted. Include the page number after the publication date (Author, date, p. 1).
To cite a page range, include “pp.” and use an en dash (Author, date, pp. 1–10).
To cite a text in an APA parenthetical citation, list the author’s last name and the publication year, separated by commas. If you use a direct quotation, also include a page number.
Example: (Smith, 2014) or (Smith, 2014, p. 67)
QuillBot’s Citation Generator can help you quickly generate citations in APA, MLA, and Chicago style formats. Additionally, you can keep track of source information with our free notepad online.
An APA parenthetical citation includes the author’s name, publication date, and page number(s) within parentheses. In APA Style, a narrative citation has the author’s name in the sentence and the date of publication in parentheses.
Example: In As I Lay Dying, Faulker illustrates the effects of death on the living (1930).
QuillBot’s Citation Generator can help you quickly generate citations in APA, MLA, and Chicago style formats.
A parenthetical citation is an in-text citation within a set of parentheses. It includes source information like the name of the author, publication date, and page number(s). It will usually come at the end of a sentence before the punctuation mark.
Parenthetical citations vary depending on the citation style (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago).
QuillBot’s Citation Generator can help you quickly generate citations in APA, MLA, and Chicago style formats.
A quote is a direct copy of another person’s words and must be enclosed in quotation marks.
Paraphrasing is a summary or rephrasing of another person’s words without using the exact language.
Both quoted and paraphrased material must be accompanied by a citation to avoid plagiarism.
The information contained in a citation depends on the style guide you are following.
Essentially, in-text citations must contain the necessary information for a reader to be able to identify the complete citation in your reference list.
Quotes are a valuable tool for enhancing your argument and adding additional support for your claims. However, it is important to avoid overusing quotes, as this can cause your own voice to be lost.
When you use quotes in academic writing, accompany them with analysis and explanation, and do not include quotes for information that you can present in your own words.
Our Word Counter, Paraphraser, and article summarizer tools can help improve your academic writing and avoid errors.
To cite information from a footnote in an MLA in-text citation, include the author’s name and page number as usual, followed by “n” and the footnote number (Bing 205n4).
To cite multiple footnotes, use “nn” and an en dash with the number range (Bing 205nn4–8).
For footnotes without numbers, include a space after the page number followed by “un” (Bing 103 un).
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When evaluating sources, do a preliminary evaluation of each source before you invest time in an in-depth evaluation:
In an APA reference list, page numbers are typically included for journal articles and chapters in edited works. APA book citations and APA website citations typically do not include page numbers.
| Journal article | Ferrand, C. (2002, December). Harmonics-to-noise ratio. Journal of Voice, 16(4), 480–487. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0892-1997(02)00123-6 |
| Chapter in an edited book | Dillard, J. P. (2020). Currents in the study of persuasion. In M. B. Oliver, A. A. Raney, & J. Bryant (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (4th ed., pp. 115–129). Routledge. |
The two numbers in a page range are connected using an en dash (–) rather than a hyphen (-).
QuillBot’s free Citation Generator can automatically create APA Style references for you.
Access dates are not normally required in APA Style in-text citations or references. They are never needed for online journal articles or ebooks.
But, if you create an APA citation for a website that is likely to be updated in the future, you should include an access date. For example:
The University of Texas at Arlington. (n.d.) Our alumni make history. Retrieved May 9, 2024, from www.uta.edu/about/alumni
APA in-text citations for quotations of specific text must include a locator. When no page numbers are available (e.g., when citing a website), you can use paragraph numbers or heading names (or a combination) instead: (Cordero, 2021, Key Facts section, para. 3).
When you paraphrase or summarize a source in APA writing, you do not need to include any locator information.
You can keep track of source information with QuillBot’s free notepad online to ensure your citations are accurate.
APA in-text citations for online articles or websites include the author’s last name and publication year: (Patel, 2020). Often, the author is an organization: (National Institutes of Health, 2022).
When citing a quotation, you should include some type of locator. This could be a paragraph number (Patel, 2020, para. 10) or section title (Patel, 2020, Future Plans section).
For further information, read our guide on APA website citations.
Using the CRAAP test will help you to assess information critically. This focuses on the currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose of the information source.
Good questions to ask include:
Some important critical thinking skills are:
Proximity operators, such as NEAR (Nx), WITHIN (Wx), and SENTENCE, can be used along with keywords to filter for results that include the keywords within a certain proximity to each other.
Different proximity operators are used to obtain different results. For example, Wx identifies sources where the keywords occur within a specific number of words (x) of each other and in the order listed.
A Boolean search uses Boolean operators (e.g., “AND,” “NOT”) and keywords to narrow or expand search results. You can use Boolean searches to:
Make sure you have a clear idea of the parameters of your research and the key terms you want to search. Then choose a database that is relevant to your research (e.g., Cochrane, JSTOR, Medline).
Use specific keywords and their variations and synonyms when searching for scholarly sources.
Some databases have a “subject search” option, which can be useful. Become familiar with Boolean operators to efficiently combine keywords, search for exact phrases, and exclude specific terms.
When evaluating sources, vertical reading means reading a source (e.g., a website) to evaluate its credibility.
This is contrasted with lateral reading, which means researching what has been written about the source elsewhere in order to help you evaluate its credibility (e.g., searching for references to a website on other websites that you trust).
MLA in-text citations must be included any time you quote or paraphrase another source. Failing to include a citation could result in accidental plagiarism.
Citations are not usually needed for generally available knowledge, such as the dates of historical events or the birthdates of historical figures.
Academic researchers use a range of credible sources in their works. They will typically cite only their primary and secondary sources. The main types of sources are:
Your research process is likely to include many of these types of scholarly sources, although the sources used will vary according to the goals and topic of your research.
Knowing how to find the credible sources you need is important when conducting research.
Scholarly sources are written by experts in the field of study using technical or academic language. Very often they are peer-reviewed before publication, and they will always have a full bibliography. They are usually considered to be credible sources.
Popular sources are written for a more general audience. They are most likely to be written by journalists and may not have a bibliography. Their language is generally less formal, and they might be written from a biased point of view. This means that these types of sources are not always reliable, but can still be used and cited if appropriate to your research.
Researchers use many different types of sources, including:
The types of source you use might change as you make progress through the research process.
The “Relevance” component of the CRAAP test for evaluating sources refers to whether the information in a source is related to your research subject. Consider if the information adds something to your argument and whether the information is intended for a specialized audience.
The “Accuracy” component of the CRAAP test for evaluating sources refers to whether the information in a source is correct, factually based, and supported by evidence. Consider where the information has come from and the source itself. For example, was it published by a reputable source, and are you able to verify the claims?
Academic journals use peer review processes to evaluate submissions for publication. Experts in the subject area use defined criteria to measure the quality of a text and determine suitability for publication.
The peer review process results in high-quality publications, which is why academic journals are often considered the most credible sources.
If a source doesn’t use a peer review process, you can use the CRAAP test to determine whether it is credible.
The type of signal phrase you use provides information about your or the original author’s position on the point presented. Signal phrases can indicate agreement, disagreement, doubt, and other relationships between authors’ stances.
Common signal phrases to indicate agreement include “confirms” or “supports” (e.g., “Smith’s works confirms the prevailing view”).
Common signal phrases to indicate disagreement include “denies” or “refutes” (e.g., “Attorney Marta Resnick denies that there is any credible evidence pointing to her client”).
Neutral signal phrases include “states” or “observes” (e.g., “Liu and Gray observe that …”).
Signal phrases have a variety of functions. They can be placed at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence.
When using signal phrases to integrate another author’s ideas, words, or data, include:
The verb tense you use in your signal phrase depends on the style guide you are following.
Primary sources involve original research with novel findings or provide firsthand evidence (e.g., photographs, records, official documents).
Secondary sources offer analyses or interpretations of primary source evidence or findings (e.g., journal articles, reviews).
Tertiary sources are reference works that use primary and secondary sources to provide an overview of the topic (e.g., databases, dictionaries).