Macdonald-Kelce Library: Citation Management: Overview

What is a citation manager and why should I use one?

Citation Management

What is a citation manager?

A citation manager collects and organizes your citations and helps place citations in your paper automatically.
Mendeley or Zotero are free tools and the library provides RefWorks for all students.

What is a citation tool?

A citation tool creates one citation at a time. Use the free tools from a database or other tools to copy/paste citations.

Why use a Citation Manager?

A citation manager is great for managing a research project with many citations:

organize citations by topic or paper
import citations from library databases or websites
create a properly formatted bibliography or references page from a number of citation formats (e.g. MLA, APA)
link to word processing programs to easily reference citations and insert footnotes or endnotes
add notes for citations you have used or plan to use

Citation Guides Online

These websites can help you format your paper and citations properly. The list below are style guides available online (mostly through Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL)).

Check your assignment instructions or ask your professor which style to use.

AMA Manual of Style This link opens in a new window
This guide specifies the writing and citation styles used in journals published by the American Medical Association (AMA).

APA - Purdue OWL
Purdue OWL citation guidance and examples
ASA - American Sociological Association
Purdue OWL citation guidance and examples. You can find the complete ASA guide at the library's circulation desk.

Chicago Manual of Style Online This link opens in a new window
Provides guidelines on style, usage, grammar, and citation format with examples. Both the 17th and 16th editions are accessible.

MLA - Purdue OWL
Purdue OWL citation guidance and examples.
Turabian: A Manual for Writers - Chicago Style for Students and Researchers
While there are a few minor differences between Chicago and Turabian styles to accommodate the needs of student paper writers, they share the same Chicago-style citation formats

Citation Style Manuals

AMA Manual of Style by Cheryl Iverson (Editor); Stacy Christiansen (Editor); Annette Flanagin (Editor); JAMA and Archives Journals Staff (Editor)
Call Number: On Reserve at the Library Circulation Desk
ISBN: 978-0195176339
Publication Date: 2007-03-15
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Ninth Edition by Kate L. Turabian; Wayne C. Booth (Revised by); Gregory G. Colomb (Revised by); Joseph M. Williams (Revised by); Joseph Bizup (Revised by); William T. FitzGerald (Revised by); The University The University of Chicago Press Editorial Staff (Revised by) When Kate L. Turabian first put her famous guidelines to paper, she could hardly have imagined the world in which today's students would be conducting research. Yet while the ways in which we research and compose papers may have changed, the fundamentals remain the same: writers need to have a strong research question, construct an evidence-based argument, cite their sources, and structure their work in a logical way. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations--also known as "Turabian"--remains one of the most popular books for writers because of its timeless focus on achieving these goals.
Call Number: LB2369 .T8 2018, REFERENCE
ISBN: 9780226430577
Publication Date: 2018-04-16
MLA Handbook by The Modern Language Association of America Relied on by generations of writers, the MLA Handbook is published by the Modern Language Association and is the only official, authorized book on MLA style. The new, ninth edition builds on the MLA's unique approach to documenting sources using a template of core elements--facts
Call Number: Available, LB2369 .M52 2021, Reserve Desk
ISBN: 9781603295628
Publication Date: 2021-05-20
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by American Psychological Association
Call Number: BF76.7 .P83, Reserve Desk
ISBN: 9781433832161
Publication Date: 2019-10-01

Online Style Manuals

These style manuals are available through the library's database collection.

AMA Manual of Style This link opens in a new window
This guide specifies the writing and citation styles used in journals published by the American Medical Association (AMA).
Chicago Manual of Style Online This link opens in a new window
Provides guidelines on style, usage, grammar, and citation format with examples. Both the 17th and 16th editions are accessible.

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Citation Management

Information Literacy Librarian

What is a citation manager and why should I use one?

Citation Guides Online

Citation Style Manuals

Online Style Manuals