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What are citations?

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Citations are an important part of academic writing; they help us track the history of an idea from its first iteration through to the present. By not using citations when borrowing ideas, concepts, images, or direct quotations from others, you are in danger of plagiarism or academic misconduct charges. View our OCAD U Library Citing Sources guide. 

There are three major citation styles:

  • Chicago (17th edition) usually used for art history research
  • MLA (8th edition) often for languages and literature research
  • APA (7th edition) primarily used in design or the social sciences

Citations use two basic elements: the cited reference in the body of your paper and the bibliographic entry at the end of the paper. Each style has a unique format:

  • Chicago (17th edition) uses footnotes or endnotes AND a Bibliography
  • MLA (8th edition) uses in-text citations AND a Works Cited list
  • APA (7th edition) uses in-text citations AND a Reference List

Verify with your instructor to see which style you are to use, the links above will offer guides from the Online Writing Lab from Purdue University which are useful for most questions on citations.