There are many citation styles, for your amusement a partial list can be found here. Almost always, if you write a paper for a class at Renton Technical College you will be using either the American Psychological Association style (APA) or the Modern Language Association style (MLA). The RTC Library recommends that you use NoodleTools 
to help prepare your citations. If you would like more information than the Citation Descriptions below (scroll down), here are some Additional Citation Links:
NoodleTools is described below, here are some Additional Citation Tools:
| BibGuru APA / BibGuru MLA | Citation Machine® | EasyBib | Scribbr |
| BibMe | Cite This For Me | Grammarly | Word / Google Docs |
| Citation Builder | CiteFast | KnightCite | Zotero |
| Citation Generator | Docear | MyBib | ZoteroBib |
Many of the above Citation Tools - including NoodleTools - are also Writing or Research Tools. Some will help with grammar, some are excellent tools for organizing your notes (very useful!), and most of them can format a bibliography in any of several citation styles.
*** Do you have questions or confusions about anything on this page, in this LibGuide, or anything else? You can Ask Us Questions! ***
APA stands for the American Psychological Association. The APA publishes a manual that offers a standard for writers in the medical and biological sciences to use when formatting research papers and bibliographies. The APA citation style is also used by writers in many more academic fields.
The APA Publication Manual describes how to format your paper, how to cite the resources you use within the body of the paper, and how to create the references list - the bibliography of sources you used - at the end of the paper.
Recommended resources to help you with APA:
NoodleTools - This tool can help you format your APA reference list. Sign up for a free account through the RTC database page and save your citations for up to a year. RTC Library videos on using NoodleTools, the easy way to create a bibliography:
The Citation Machine - Another web resource to help you format an APA citation (comes with a 30-second commercial). Citation Machine won't save your citations, but you don't need to log-in to use it.
OWL - The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University. Covers both APA and MLA citation styles, as well as much more information about writing.
Your References List
The References list is the bibliography - the list of sources you used for your paper - at the end of your paper. This is a sample of a References list:
Creating Citations for the References List
A book citation
These elements go in this order: The Author's last name, Author's First and Middle Initials. (Year of Publication). Book Title. City of Publication: Publisher Name.
Example 1: Finer, K. (1995). Tuberculosis. New York: Columbia.
A Journal article from an online database
These elements go in this order: The Author's last name, Author's First and Middle Initials. (Year of Publication). Title of the article. Title of the journal, volume (issue), pages. Name of the database from which the article was retrieved.
Example 1:
Griffith, R. (2009, July). Role of the law in controlling the spread of tuberculosis.
Nurse Prescribing, 7(7), 320-324. Retrieved from CINAHL database.
An article from a paper journal
These elements go in this order: The Author's last name, Author's First and Middle Initials. (Year of Publication). Title of the article. Title of the journal, volume (issue), pages.
Example 1:
Henderson, D.A. (2008). Smallpox: Dispelling the myths. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 86(12), 917-19.
A website
These elements go in this order: The Author's last name, Author's First and Middle Initials. (Year published or updated). Title of the page. Date retrieved.
Example 1:
Clay, G. (2009). Menstuff: The national men's resource. Retrieved November 3,
2009, from http://www.menstuff.org/frameindex.html.
Showing Your Sources Within Your Paper - In-Text Citations
When quoting or paraphrasing a book, journal article, website, or other sources in your paper, you need to signal that these words or ideas are not yours. This is usually done by listing the author's last name, page number, and the year after the sentence. This is called an in-text citation, because you are citing the work in your text.
Example 1: “The best known lipids are fats." (Finer, 2008, p. 25).
Example 2: According to Finer (2008) “the best known lipids are fats (p. 25).”
If the work has multiple authors, list all of the authors unless there are six or more.
Example 3: Two authors: “The best known lipids are fats." (Smith & Jones, 2008, p. 29).
Example 4: Three to five authors; “The best known lipids are fats." (Smith, Jones, Baker, Taylor & Miller, 2008, p. 31).
Example 5: Six or more authors – list the first author and then “et al.” for the remaining authors: “The best known lipids are fats." (Smith et al., 2001, p. 52).
Short Quotes and Long Quotes
Short Quotes - For a short quote like "The best known lipids are fats." (Smith et al., 2001, p. 52). just put the quote in the main body of your paper. Include quotation marks and your in-text citation, but you don't have to do anything more.
Long Quotes - Put long quotes of over 40 word in a separate paragraph. Put in one blank line, indent the quote 5 spaces from the left margin, and put in another blank line at the end of the quote. Leave out the quotation marks.
Example 1:
The text of the paper. This is your writing. Then comes the long quote. You include a blank line, indent five spaces and then:.
Scientists believe that malaria originated in Africa around 30 million years ago. Human malaria perhaps evolved into its current state along with our anthropoid and early human ancestors, although no one really knows when. There is no record of its presence in Europe until the first century A.D., when it was first recorded in Rome. (Marcus, 2004, p. 38.)
After a blank space, the text of your paper - your writing - continues.
Paraphrases
Paraphrases are when you use your own words to tell the reader what someone said. We often do this to for clarity or to shorten an explanation. For paraphrases, include author and date. The page number is recommended but optional.
Example 1: Others who have studied the coast feel that currents are too strong to make this feasible (McFarlaine, 2008, p. 13).
MLA stands for the Modern Language Association. The MLA also publishes a manual that offers a standard for writers in English and the humanities to use when formatting papers and bibliographies.
The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers describes how to format your paper, how to cite the resources you use within the body of the paper, and how to create the Works Cited list - the list of sources you used - at the end of the paper.
Recommended resources to help you with MLA:
RTC Library videos on using Noodletools, the easy way to create a bibliography:
NoodleTools - available for free on the RTC Library Database page - This resource can help you format your MLA reference list.
The Citation Machine - Another web resource to help you format MLA citation lists (comes with a 30 second commerical). This one won't save your citations.
OWL - The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University has pages about both MLA and APA citation styles.
Works Cited
The Works Cited list is the bibliography - the list of sources you used for your paper - at the end of your paper. This is a sample of a Works Cited list:
Creating Citations for the Works Cited List
A Book Citation
These elements go in this order: The Author's last name, Author's First and Middle Names. Book Title. Publisher Name, Year of Publication. (The place of publication isn't needed unless the publisher has offices in more than one city. If it does, put the place of publication before the publisher name.)
Example:
Finer, Kim. Tuberculosis. Columbia UP, 1995.
A Journal article from an online database
These elements go in this order: Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Article: Subtitle. Name of Journal, volume number, issue number, date of publication, pages. Name of the database, DOI, Permalink or shortened URL for article in the database.
Example:
Griffith, Richard. "Role of the Law in Controlling the Spread of Tuberculosis."
Nurse Prescribing, vol. 7, no. 7, July 2009, pp. 320-24. CINAHL Plus
with Full Text, https://doi.org/10.12968/npre.2009.7.7.43308. Accessed 26
July 2023.
An Article from a Paper Journal
These elements go in this order: The Author's last name, author's first name and middle initials. Title of the article. Title of the journal, volume, issue, date, pages.
Example:
Henderson, Donald A. “Smallpox: Dispelling the myths.” Bulletin of the World Health Organization, vol. 86, no. 12 Dec. 2008, pp917-19.
A Website
These elements go in this order: The Author's last name, author's first name and middle initials. Title of the page. Sponsor of Website, date of publication, URL. Date of access.
Example:
Moore, Cathy. "3 ways to save jobs of time when designing training." Action @ Work, 8 Sep. 2014, https://www.blog.cathy-moore.com/2014/09/3-ways-to-save-gobs-of-time-when-designing-training. Accessed 6 Feb. 2023.
A YouTube Video
MLA doesn't give a specific example for YouTube videos, so you will see many variations in MLA format. This is one way: "Title of video." YouTube, uploaded by Screen Name, day month year, www.youtube.com/xxxxx.
Example:
"Cranes in the Sky." YouTube, uploaded by solangeknowlesmusic, 2 October 2016,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0qrinhNnOM.
Showing Your Sources Within Your Paper - In-Text Citations
While quoting or paraphrasing a book, journal article, website, or other source in your paper, you need to signal that these words or ideas are not yours. This is usually done by listing the author’s last name and year at the end of the sentence. This is called in-text citation, because you are citing the work in your text.
Example: It has been noted that “the best known lipids are fats” (Finer 25).
Short Quotes and Long Quotes
Short quotes - Put in double quotation marks, then in parenthesis list the author’s last name and page number.
Example: It has been noted that “the best known lipids are fats” (Finer 25).
Long quotes – For quotes that take up more than four lines – put in one blank line and then indent one inch from the margin. Do not put in quotation marks.
Example:
The text of the paper. This is your writing. Then comes the long quote. You include a blank line, indent an inch, and then:
Scientists believe that malaria originated in Africa around 30 million years ago. Human malaria perhaps evolved into its current state along with our anthropoid and early human ancestors, although no one really knows when. There is no record of its presence in Europe until the first century A.D., when it was first recorded in Rome. (Marcus 2004)
After a blank space, the text of paper – your writing - continues.
Paraphrases
Paraphrases are when you use your own words to tell the reader what someone said. We often do this for clarity or to shorten an explanation.
To show that you are paraphrasing, include the author and page at the end of the sentence, before the period.
Example: Others who have studied the coast believe that dams have limited erosion (Campbell 255).