Requirements for citation format vary by discipline. Keep in mind that even within disciplines, different situations may call for different practices, that one size does not necessarily fit all. One of the tasks of the scholar or student is to determine which format to use. Consult with your instructor if you aren’t sure which style to use.
A citation generator is a tool that exists to assist you with the creation of a bibliographic citation. Many credible databases include citations generators for the sources that you find within them! Some of these databases include the family of EBSCO Databases, like Academic Search Complete, and Google Scholar. When using these databases, the citation generation button may take on differing appearances. Often, the button will appear as the word "cite" or as a quotation mark ("). If you are having difficulty finding the citation button, ask a librarian for help!
There are also many online citation generators available. Below are just a few popular examples! Explore each to find the one best suited for your purposes:
2. BibMe
3. EasyBib
4. Zotero
No matter which generator you use, always be sure to double check your citations! Generators, while useful, do not work perfectly.
Our citation guides offer comprehensive, in-depth information for creating common citations.
Several handbooks will familiarize you with the most common styles, but these following handbooks set the golden standard:
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
MLA Handbook
The Chicago Manual of StyleAn annotated bibliography is a list of citations followed by a descriptive summary and evaluation. Sometimes the annotation will reflect the applicability of the source to the needs of the researcher. The purpose of this type of bibliography is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.
Example:
Gurko, Leo. Ernest Hemingway and the Pursuit of Heroism. New York: Crowell, 1968. This book is part of a series called "Twentieth Century American Writers": a Brief Introduction to the Man and his Work. After fifty pages of straight biography, Gurko discussed Hemingway's writing, novel by novel. There's an index and a short bibliography, but no notes. The biographical part is clear and easy to read, but it sounds too much like a summary.
Example borrowed from the Writing Center at UNC- Chapel Hill.
The following handouts, created by CSCC librarians, may be downloaded and printed for your personal use.
