Citation Generator

APA, MLA, and Chicago Citation Styles

Academic citations provide readers with the information needed to locate and verify sources. Three citation styles dominate academic writing: APA, MLA, and Chicago. Each has distinct formatting rules suited to different disciplines.

APA (American Psychological Association)

APA style is standard in the social sciences, psychology, education, and nursing. It emphasizes the publication date prominently — the year appears right after the author, reflecting the importance of recency in scientific fields. The format for a book follows the pattern: Last, F. (Year). Title. Publisher.

MLA (Modern Language Association)

MLA style is used in the humanities — literature, language, film, and cultural studies. It focuses on authorship and uses a Works Cited page. The format de-emphasizes the publication year, placing it near the end: Last, First. Title. Publisher, Year.

Chicago (Turabian)

Chicago style is widely used in history, the arts, and some social sciences. It has two systems: Notes-Bibliography (used here) and Author-Date. The bibliography entry for a book is: Last, First. Title. City: Publisher, Year. Chicago style is particularly detailed about place of publication.

When to Use Each Style

• APA — psychology, education, social sciences, nursing, business
• MLA — literature, language, film studies, cultural studies, humanities
• Chicago — history, fine arts, some social sciences; also used in publishing

When in doubt, check your institution's or journal's style guide. Many instructors specify which format to use; if not stated, APA is a safe default for science-adjacent fields and MLA for humanities.