Citing Sources
How do I cite sources (or make a bibliography)?
Need to build a bibliography and you're not sure how to make a citation for your books and articles? Try the following resources for guidance or assistance:Find Citations As You Search Databases
When you're searching in the MU Catalog or our article databases you can find a citation in the format you need. In the Catalog, look for the Cite link to show the item you're looking forward formatted for APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and Turabian. In EBSCO databases (e.g., Academic Search Complete), you'll also see a Cite choice when you view an individual article that will format citations in AMA, APA, Chicago/Turabian, Harvard, MLA, and Vancouver/ICMJE styles. In most of our other databases, the FindIt! link will offer an option to "Format Citation as ..." APA, MLA, Chicago, CBE, and Vancouver. Some databases may have their own internal citation formatters as well.
Use a Citation Guide
Choose your citation style and find a guide to creating a bibliography or in-text citations (along with other formatting information):- Modern Language Association (MLA) - MLA Citation Style Guide.
- American Psychological Association (APA) - APA Citation Style Guide.
- Chicago - Purdue OWL Chicago Manual of Style guide, or this quick guide to Chicago-Style citations.
Other online guides are linked from the Miami University Libraries Citation Resources and Guidelines LibGuide. GHL also owns print copies of most citation manuals (search our Catalog for specific titles or contact our library staff for more assistance).
Enter Your Citation Information Into a Formatter
The OLinks Citation Formatter will create citations for you in a variety of styles (MLA, APA, CBE, Chicago, etc.). Just enter your citation information and click "Format Citation." The Web-based tools below can also be used as citation formatters.Use a Tool to Gather Citations and Create Bibliographies
There are tools available that you can use to collect citations from databases and then create bibliographies in any style that you need. The comparison chart below will help you choose the right tool for your need (see a PDF of the comparison chart).
|
EasyBib |
BibMe |
Zotero |
EndNote Web |
Mendeley |
Cost |
Free for MLA only |
Free |
Free |
Free |
Free |
Access |
Web-based |
Web-based |
Browser-based (Firefox) |
Web-based |
Web-based and standalone desktop client |
Account creation |
Required to save citations |
Required to download completed bibliography |
Required to use Zotero |
Required to use EndNote Web |
Required to use Mendeley |
Import from Online Databases |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Citation Styles |
APA, MLA, Turabian, Chicago (only MLA is free) |
APA, MLA, Turabian, Chicago |
APA, MLA and 14 other styles plus 1200+ styles created by users |
APA, MLA and 3300+ other styles |
APA, MLA, and others |
Bibliography Formats |
Word Doc and Google Doc |
RTF file that can be edited in Word |
Word and Open Office |
RTF file that can be edited in Word |
Word and Open Office (plug-in required) and Google Doc |
Best Uses |
Good for creating bibliographies for papers. |
Good for creating bibliographies for papers |
Good for collecting and organizing sources and writing papers for classes. |
Good for collecting and organizing sources and writing papers for classes. |
Good for collecting and organizing sources and preparing research projects or manuscripts for publication. |
Website |
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How To Guide |
