WR 121 Erwert Fall 2025: Citations

Why cite your sources?

Resources for creating MLA-style citations:

• MLA Formatting and Style guide
• MLA 9 citation samples 
• Citing AI in MLA format (NOTE: Make sure you've fact-checked any assertions the AI text is making and verified any sources that it references. AI tools do not always share accurate information or viable sources.)

Free citation creation tools to help you generate MLA-style citations:

• MyBib
  • ​Generate citations and bibliographies by pasting a URL or searching for a resource by title
  • Covers MLA 8 & 9
  • Copy and paste citations, download them as a Word doc, save them to Google Drive, print, or email them to yourself
• NCSU Citation Builder 
  • Simple citation builder for some digital and print materials
  • Covers MLA 8 & 9
  • Copy and paste your generated citation into your bibliography
• Calvin College's Knight Cite 
  • ​Build citations for a wide range of resources in print, digital, multimedia, and communication
  • Covers MLA 9
  • Create a free Knight Cite account to save citations and export them to Word or RTF document

Need help with hanging indentation?

• Here is a link to a short video tutorial for hanging indentation formatting in Word.
• Here is a link to a short video tutorial for hanging indentation formatting in Google Drive/Docs

Why cite your sources?

When you use someone else's words, ideas, or images in your writing, you need to give them proper credit. Providing a citation or reference enables others to locate these sources, too!  View a sample APA paper to see how citations and formatting are done.

Resources for creating APA-style citations

• APA 7 Formatting and Style guide

• APA 7 citation examples (pdf)

• Anatomy of an APA Journal Article Citation, 7th edition (5:58 video from Dalhousie University)
• Citing AI in APA format (NOTE: Make sure you've fact-checked any assertions the AI text is making and verified any sources that it references. AI tools do not always share accurate information or viable sources.)

Free citation creation tools to help you generate APA-style citations:

• MyBib
  • Generate citations and bibliographies by pasting a URL or searching for a resource by title
  • Covers APA 6 & 7
  • Copy and paste citations, download them as a Word doc, save them to Google Drive, print, or email them to yourself
• NCSU Citation Builder 
  • Simple citation builder for some digital and print materials
  • Covers APA 6 & 7
  • Copy and paste your generated citation into your bibliography
• Calvin College's Knight Cite 
  • Build citations for a wide range of resources in print, digital, multimedia, and communication
  • Covers APA 7
  • Create a free Knight Cite account to save citations and export them to Word or RTF document

Need help with hanging indentation?

• Here is a link to a short video tutorial for hanging indentation formatting in Word.
• Here is a link to a short video tutorial for hanging indentation formatting in Google Drive/Docs

When you use images in your presentations or papers, you should provide a citation for these sources, using the same principles as you would for textual information.  Here are some guides for citing images in MLA style:

Here are some guides for citing images in APA style:

If you want to use material that was generated by AI whether that is text or an image or some other content:

• Make sure you are using the material ethically and in line with any classroom policies your instructor has given you.  This guide from UC San Diego gives you some excellent things to think about regarding AI and Academic Integrity.
• Make sure you've fact-checked any assertions the AI text is making and verified any sources that it references.  AI tools do not always share accurate information or viable sources.
• Cite the material properly according to the citation format that you are using for your project:
  • Citing AI in MLA format
  • Citing AI in APA format
  • Citing AI in Chicago style
  • If you are not using one of these standard citation formats, ask a librarian or your instructor for guidance.  Remember, the goal of citation is to communicate with clarity about the source of information so it is important to provide a citation even though copyright does not apply.