For instance, the APA Style Manual suggests using two spaces after a period, though most professional writers use only one. As Vickie noted yesterday, “Basically you must cite any time the question arises in the reader’s mind: How do you know that?”Ĭitation styles can sometimes seem rather arcane and petty. In academic and professional writing, it’s useful to remember, citations are designed to identify the sources of your information and/or ideas, including direct and indirect quotes (i.e., paraphrasing what someone else wrote). In any case, you need to follow the style as closely as possible, as it otherwise might hurt your grade. Sometimes, you may have a choice: I used to allow my students to pick between MLA, APA and Chicago/Turabian in such a case, select the one you are most comfortable with or perhaps flip a coin.

The selection of a citation style for your term paper, dissertation or journal article is often easy: Use what your professor, academic department or publisher mandates. Like many college libraries, Purdue University OWL Online Writing Lab’s website provides much more than help in formatting citations.

Purdue endnote for students