The most common citation styles are the following: MLA style in the humanities (e.g. literature or languages). APA style in the social sciences (e.g. psychology or education). Chicago notes and bibliography in history. Chicago author-date in the sciences.

We give examples from three of the most common citation styles: APA, MLA, and Chicago author-date. To avoid plagiarism, it’s essential to include an in-text citation every time you use someone else’s ideas or information. Parenthetical citations usually include the author’s name, and sometimes the year of publication.

For example, to cite both print books and ebooks, use the books and reference works category and then choose the appropriate type of work (i.e., book) and follow the relevant example (e.g., whole authored book ). Textual works are covered in Sections 10.1–10.8 of the Publication Manual. The most common categories and examples are presented here.