Q. What is a citation?

A citation is a written reference to a source (article, book, website, etc.).  It acts as a kind of roadmap to a source, to allow your readers to find it for themselves.  Click here to learn why it's important to cite your sources.

Most citations will include author(s), publication date and title(s), with additional information (like volume, issue and page numbers) added, depending on the type of source.   

Citations are formatted in very uniform ways (varying by academic discipline), to make it easy for researchers to find the information they need at a glance. 

The formatting rules are found in style guides.  Click here to find out which style guide your degree program uses.

Learn more:

• For help with managing and formatting your citations, try a citation management tool.
   
• Have a citation for a book or article that you'd like to read?  Click below to learn how to find it in the APUS library: 
  • Find a book
  • Find an article