Citation Helper: An APA and MLA Citation Guide
Have a citation question?
Why Citation Matters
Why Cite?
- Citations give proper credit to the authors of the words or ideas that you incorporated into your paper.
- Citations allow readers of your work to locate your sources to learn more about the ideas that you include in your paper.
- Citing your sources consistently and accurately helps you avoid plagiarism in your writing
Citation Management Tools & Generators
Citation Management Tools:
When working on extensive research projects, you will need to collect, organize and format all your citations. RefWorks, EndNote, and Zotero are citation management tools supported by Rutgers Libraries that enable you to search for and store your references, as well as create in-text citations and bibliographies.
Citation Generators:
If you need a few quick citations, there are many online tools that make citations easy to manage. However, remember that automatic citation tools are never perfect. You still need to understand the rules for your citation style in order to spot mistakes.
Here are some useful ones:
- Rutgers Libraries Website
Look for the citation icon button on any Rutgers Libraries resource pages. You can also download a citation directly into Endnote or RefWorks. - RefWorksRefWorks is available for all Rutgers affiliated students, faculty, and staff. This is a licensed (subscription) product, so you need to download it from the library in order to gain full access to the software. See below for more information
- EndNoteDesktop and web-based subscription tool, available through Rutgers, to help researchers store, organize, and cite references. See below for more information.
- ZoteroFree citation management application that collects, manages, and formats citations and bibliographies. See below for more information.
- MendeleyFree citation manager with social sharing and 2GB of free cloud storage. Automatically generate bibliographies and insert citations into a word processor.
- Citation BuilderGenerates bibliographic citations in MLA or APA. From the North Carolina State University Libraries.
- CitationGeneratorA free online tool for generating citations in APA, MLA, and Chicago style. Covers a wide range of different source types. Useful for one-off references.
- Citation MachineGenerates bibliographic citations in APA, MLA, Chicago, or Turabian format based on information you enter into a web form.
- zoterobibThis online tool helps you build a bibliography instantly without creating an account or installing any software.
What is RefWorks?
RefWorks is a research management tool that makes it easy to save references to books, articles, and web pages and organize them into your own personal research library. Using a citation manager like RefWorks can save you time and keep your research organized! Learn more about using RefWorks at the RefWorks research guide.
Create a RefWorks Acount
How do I create a RefWorks account?
To create an account:
- Go to https://refworks.proquest.com/signup/
- Enter your Rutgers email address and create a password
- Click the activation link in the confirmation email to complete your account setup
What is EndNote?
EndNote desktop is a program for collecting and organizing references from online or other sources. You can create a searchable personal database of references, find full text articles, manage and annotate PDF files, cite references while writing a paper, create bibliographies formatted in a preferred style, and more. EndNote is available for all Rutgers affiliated students, faculty, and staff. This is a licensed (subscription) product, so you need to download it from the library in order to gain full access to the software. For more information, visit the EndNote research guide.
What is Zotero?
Zotero is a free citation management software. It automatically senses content and allows you to add it to your personal library with a single click. You can use Zotero to create a bibliography (cited reference page) or add footnotes. Please note that the free version of Zotero has limited storage space. If you intend to store large quantities of files, please consider using other citation management software like RefWorks or EndNote. For more information about using Zotero, visit the Zotero research guide.
