Citations and Bibliographies

The handouts below were created by Librarians at Neumann University Library and are available in hard copy at the Reference Desk of the Library. 

The sample papers below come from Owl at Purdue and are available to access online.

Visit the APA Blog ( https://apastyle.apa.org/blog ), the official companion to the APA Manual, for examples and explanations not found on our page or handouts.

Visit the MLA website ( https://style.mla.org/sections/ask-the-mla/ ), the official online presence of the MLA, for common questions and examples. 

Visit the OWL at Purdue  for other citation examples and explanations. 

Many students stress over citations and bibliographies, sometimes more than they stress over the actual paper! 

Why are citations so important?  For many reasons, actually.  Citations demonstrate that a writer (college student writers included!) has conducted proper research and is giving credit to others who influenced their work.  It would be plagiarism to not include the citation information for any sources used in a paper.  However, the importance of citations goes beyond avoiding plagiarism.  Citing sources allows anyone reading a paper to gain a fuller understanding of where this paper came from.  A teacher can find a portion of the paper interesting, look at the source cited and go to the source directly for further information.  Citations connect writers, readers, and researchers in a uniform and organized way.