LibGuides: Linguistics/ Linguistique (GL/LIN): Citing & Bibliographies

Publication Manuals

Choosing a Citation Style

Take a look at your assignment guidelines to see if your professor has outlined the citation style you should use. If you have been asked to choose a style, you may want to consider the field or discipline each was designed for (since they present information in slightly different ways).

That said, all citation styles have the same key objectives: to show the reader which sources were used, to give credit to the authors ideas were taken from, and to provide evidence to support assertions.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA)
This citation style tends to be used in the sciences and social sciences (e.g. psychology, education, etc). Within the text, it provides brief parenthetical citations for quotations, paraphrasing, and summaries (called in-text citations). In the "Reference List" at the end of the text, it provides complete documentation for each source used.
MLA Handbook
This citation style tends to be used in the arts and humanities (e.g. literature, theatre, etc). It provides brief parenthetical citations for quotations, paraphrasing, and summaries within the text (called in-text citations). In the "Works Cited" section at the end of the text, it provides complete documentation for each source used.
The Chicago Manual of Style
This citation style tends to be used in the arts and humanities (e.g. history, fine arts, etc). In the text, it provides footnotes or endnotes for quotations, paraphrasing, and summaries. In the "Bibliography" section at the end of the text, it provides complete documentation for each source used.