Citation and Style Guides

Below are some basic examples of commonly cited material types. Note that formatting can differ even within these categories based on things like the number of authors, missing date information, and more.

Print Books and Ebooks

Citation in Works Cited page

Last Name, First Name. Title in italics. Publisher, date.

In-text citation

(Last Name page#)

Example

Butler, Octavia E. Parable of the Sower. Grand Central Publishing, 1993.

(Butler 195)

Journal Article

Citation in Works Cited page

Last Name, First Name. "Title of article in quotation marks." Journal title in italics, vol. #, issue #, date, page
     range. Database if applicable, URL.

In-text citation

(Last Name page #)

Example

Hodges, Devon. "Frankenstein and the Feminine Subversion of the Novel." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, vol.
     2, no. 2, 1983, pp. 155-64. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/463717.

(Hodges 157)

Webpage

Websites vary widely in format. Sometimes you may not find much information about authors or publication dates, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't still cite it. Refer to a citation guide when you encounter missing information or a unique format like a social media post or online video.

Citation in Works Cited page

Creator name (if available). "Page title." Name of site, Publisher of site (if different than creator and site name), date of
     creation, URL.

In-text citation

(First phrase in citation on Works Cited page)

Example

de Satgé, Rick. "Land and Food Security." Land Portal, Land Portal Foundation, 29 May, 2025, 
     https://data.landportal.info/issues/land-and-food-security.

(de Satgé)

Citing a TV series? What if you need to reference a court decision? Check out the Online Citation Guides in the previous section for more examples and instructions for nearly every type of source!