Humanities

Citations allow you to document where the information you've used in your research came from and to give other scholars proper credit for their work. These are some common situations that require citations:

• A direct quotation from a text.
• A direct quotation from someone else’s writing about that text.
• A paraphrase of the ideas of another writer.

Citations should be formatted consistently according to an established style, such as Chicago, MLA, or APA. Copies of all of the guides below are available at the reference desk and in the Reference Room.

• Chicago Manual of Style Online                                                                                                                                                             Currently in its 18th edition, the Chicago guide to style, usage, and grammar is available both in print and in this accessible online format. There are two versions outlined in Chicago: the Notes and Bibliography Style, preferred in the humanities, and Author-Date Style, preferred by social science and science disciplines.
• MLA Handbook Plus This link opens in a new window

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  The MLA Handbook is the only official, authorized book on MLA format. The ninth edition builds on the MLA’s approach to documenting sources using a template of core elements that allows writers to cite any type of work, from books, e-books, and journal articles in databases to song lyrics, online images, YouTube videos, dissertations, and more.
• Purdue OWL Research and citation help from Purdue University; includes information about MLA, APA, and Chicago citation styles.
• Harvard Guide to Using Sources A publication of the Harvard College Writing Program

You can use software like Zotero to help manage your citations. Reed Library's guide Zotero.

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