Research Guides: Citing Sources (APA, MLA, ...): Home

Why cite?

Citation is a basic and essential part of academic writing at university.

Understanding the rules of citation in academic writing will also help you to avoid plagiarizing unintentionally. Plagiarism means taking someone else's words or ideas and passing them off as your own.

Plagiarism of any sort is not tolerated at HKBU.

The penalties for plagiarism at the University are severe. Learn how to cite properly so that you avoid this serious offence!

What is a citation?

What exactly is a citation? The video below explains in less than a minute!

Citation Styles

Academics in different disciplines use different citation styles.

In this guide, we will cover three different citation styles in detail.

For those studying Social Sciences or Psychology

you will commonly use APA style.

For those studying Humanities

you will commonly use MLA style.

For those studying Visual Arts or History

you will commonly use Chicago style.

For those studying Science

there are many different styles - ask your professor which one you should be using.

For a detailed comparison of APA, MLA and Chicago citation styles, a citation style chart is available at the PurdueOWL.

There are many dozens of different citation styles out there. If the one you need help with isn't covered in this guide, come and ask a librarian!

Automatic citation generation

There are many online tools that make citations easier 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 good ones:

EndNote
EndNote 20 is a leading reference management tool that helps save you time when writing research papers. Using this single software platform you can:

- Collect and organize your references.
- Annotate and make notes on the PDFs you have added to your reference library.
- Generate citations and bibliographies in any citation style directly within Microsoft Word.
Mendeley
Mendeley allows you to output citations in multiple formats. It also has a Word plug-in that allows you to do this directly in your papers.
Zotero
A free tool to help collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources.
ZoteroBib
Provided by the same team as the more fully featured Zotero, this online tool helps you build a bibliography instantly without creating an account or installing any software.
Readcube
A desktop and browser-based program for managing, annotating, and accessing academic research articles.
CitationGenerator
A 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.
NCSU Libraries Citation Builder
Another online tool - useful for quickly generating a reference in APA or MLA style.