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Museums & Digital Culture

Visitor Research, Emerging Technologies, and Digital Culture Research Help

Getting Started

About Citing

Why do we cite our sources in research papers?

  • Give credit where it's due and avoid plagiarism
  • Contribute to a scholarly conversation
  • Help others understand our work by tracing the origins of our ideas and research
  • Help others continue research in the area that our paper is focused

When to cite

It can be difficult sometimes to figure out when to cite. Ultimately, there is no need to cite common knowledge or your own thoughts. However, if you're quoting someone's words, paraphrasing their work, or using their ideas, you need to cite them accordingly. When in doubt, cite it!

Where to Go

The Purdue OWL is one of the best places to go online to get information citing sources in a variety of styles. Use the buttons below to select the style of your choice.


APA

Learn how to cite using American Psychological Association (APA) style: in-text citations, reference pages, and samples.

Learn to Cite in APA

Chicago

Learn how to cite using Chicago style. While the Purdue OWL link below works great, you should also check out the The Chicago Manual of Style Online.

Learn to Cite in Chicago

MLA

Learn how to cite using Modern Language Association (MLA) style. While the Purdue OWL link below works great, you should also check out the MLA Handbook Plus.

Learn to Cite in MLA

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