Citing correctly protects you from accidental plagiarism and shows your reader where your ideas come from.
APA 7 uses author–date in-text citations: (Smith, 2023). It is common in psychology, education and the social sciences.
MLA 9 uses author–page: (Smith 45). It is common in literature and the humanities.
Chicago uses footnotes or author–date and is common in history.
Whichever style you use, keep a running list of sources as you research and double-check each entry against your style guide. Try our free citation generator to get started.
