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Citation Style Guide

Quick-reference formatting rules for APA, MLA, and IEEE styles

APA
American Psychological Association (7th Edition)

Most common in psychology, education, and the social sciences. Uses an author-date in-text citation system.

In-text(Author, Year)
Journal articleAuthor, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), pages. DOI/URL
WebsiteAuthor, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. URL
MLA
Modern Language Association (9th Edition)

Common in humanities, literature, and language studies. Uses an author-page in-text citation system.

In-text(Author Page)
Journal articleAuthor. "Title of Article." Journal Name, vol. #, no. #, Year, pp. #-#.
WebsiteAuthor. "Title of Page." Site Name, Publisher, Date, URL.
IEEE
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Standard for engineering, computer science, and technical conference papers. Uses a numbered in-text citation system.

In-text[1]
Journal article[#] A. Author, "Title of article," Journal Name, vol. #, no. #, pp. #-#, Year.
Website[#] A. Author, "Title of page," Site Name, Year. [Online]. Available: URL
General Tips
  • Always check your specific journal, conference, or institution's style guide - these are general conventions, and exact requirements can vary.
  • Be consistent: don't mix citation styles within the same document.
  • Most word processors (including our research paper templates) have built-in reference managers that can help automate formatting.
  • Double-check DOIs and URLs before submission - broken links are a common reason for revision requests.
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