A citation is a formal way to acknowledge a source that you used or learned from in some way that helped you create a piece of content.

There are two types of citations: full and in-text citations.

A list of full citations is given on a:

• References page (APA format, Author-Date Chicago style)
• Works Cited page (MLA format, Author-Date Chicago style)
• Bibliography page (Notes and Bibliography Chicago style)

These pages contain all of the important information necessary for someone else to find the material you referenced to create your argument or express your unique ideas.

Names of authors, titles, publishers, and more are included to make it easy for your reader to follow up an idea or point that you showed them when you cited another author’s work within your own.

The formatting of what informational elements are listed when is based on what citation style you’re using, and the conventions are different not only between citation styles but also between different types of sources.

In-text citations are the condensed forms of full citations, and they are used within the body of your written work. They are placed at any point in a sentence, in parentheses, when you bring up an idea or piece of information that you didn’t come up with yourself or know before you encountered the source.

In-text citations often contain the author’s last name, the year the source was published, the title of the article you’re referencing, and/or other information relevant to the type of source that is being cited at that moment.

Books, websites, and other kinds of reference material have different conventions for what is listed in the parenthetical in-text citation, and this also varies depending on what citation style you’re working within.

Citations are important and worth your time to learn and use for many reasons:

1. Citations make it easy for others to locate a source you referenced that interests them. In this way, it helps you facilitate more engagement within your reading or research community.
2. They properly credit others for the ideas that inspired or helped you when writing.
3. You build credibility for your ideas and arguments by showing there is outside support and or interest in your topic.
4. Using citations correctly lowers your chances of unintentionally plagiarizing another author, which can have extreme and lasting negative consequences.
5. Citations also show that you are well-versed in the subject matter and have done the work necessary to understand the research that’s already been done, plus how you can thoughtfully add to it in your own unique way.

Nitty-gritty citation rules vary between formatting styles, but here are a few overarching, big-picture rules that are important to citing sources successfully and not hating your life while doing so:

• Keep track of what information comes from each source.

  You don’t want to have to backtrack and re-read several sources just to figure out where you got a fact or idea. Trust us. It’s not a good time.

• Keep track of what information you take and from where.

  If you’re citing a book, you’ll usually need to know which specific page number(s) you took information from for most citation styles.

  Again, save yourself the heartbreak (and perhaps, heartburn) of re-reading each page to locate information instead of taking good notes from the start.

• Understand the citation style in which you’re working.

  No, really. Read the manual, consult our QuillBot citation guides, check your in-text and full citations using a citation generator—make sure you get it!

  Ensure your citations are correct and any materials or tools you’re using for support are up-to-date with the latest editions of the manual for the citation style you’re using.

The difference between a citation and a reference can be tricky because different styles use different words to describe citations and other related elements.

Unfortunately, there is more than one type of citation and also several ways that the word “references” is used when talking about citing or reporting sources. Let’s break them each down to clear things up for you.

As we discussed previously, there are two types of citations: full and in-text citations.

Full citations are listed on a page that comes at the end of your paper, and they contain everything someone would need to find a particular source.

In-text citations are parenthetical, condensed versions of the full citation that are found within your work whenever you discuss the ideas or information you pulled from a source.

A reference is a term used in APA format when talking about a full citation. So, a full citation in APA format is a reference, and the terms are used interchangeably if you’re working in that style. Calling full citations “references” is shorter and easier, though, so it’s usually preferred.

In the Author-Date system of Chicago style, you may also hear another term that has “reference” in it because full citations in this style system are often called “reference list entries”.

For both APA format and the Author-Date system of Chicago style, the list of full citations/references/reference list entries are contained on a special page at the end of your work that is always titled “References” in APA format and can sometimes be titled this for Author-Date Chicago style.

The word “reference” might also pop up when you’re planning, writing, or discussing your work. But, when it’s a verb, “to reference” means only “to mention, refer to, or to cite”. It might look the same as a reference that is a noun and actually means a full citation in APA format, but it isn’t the same, and you can pick it out by how it functions in a sentence, if you’re ever confused.

Lastly, sources are sometimes called “reference materials”, but rest assured that term is only interchangeable with “sources”and “source materials” and like terms that essentially mean “the thing you used information from”.

However, you also have the option in Author-Date to title this page “Works Cited”, if you prefer; either title is correct if you’re working in that system of Chicago Style.