Are You Experiencing Citation Frustration?

By Susan Gregg
Published on 17 November, 2020

It's that time in the semester when research papers are due and you may realize that you don't know how to do an in-text citation or create a Works Cited or References page. Don't worry--the library has you covered! There are several ways to find the help you need while you're working remotely.

Here's how you can help yourself:

  • From the library homepage click on the Research Help tab and go to How to Cite. You can go through the tutorial to find out when and how to cite sources you've used in your paper.
  • Also on the How to Cite page choose MLA Style Guide, APA Style Guide, or Additional Citation Sources to find the guide to the citation style your instructor wants you to use. You can look at sample papers and link out to the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University and Knightcite, an easy to use website to format citations. MLA and APA pages have a drop down box with citation examples for all kind of sources, even social media.
  • Under the Research Help tab click on Research and Assignment FAQs and enter "citation" as your search term. You'll find several questions and answers there to help you with citation.
  • When you are using CSN Libraries Find Books or other electronic databases you can use the built-in citation tool to retrieve a formatted citation in your preferred style. When you're in the record of a book or article look at the top or right hand side menu to find the tool. Choose your style and copy & paste the citation to your Works Cited or References page.

Here's how you can get help from CSN experts:

  • On the library homepage click on the orange Questions? Ask Us! button to see how to email or text a question. Or jump into our Chat box to talk with a librarian about your citation issues.
  • In Canvas, click on Smartthinking to talk to CSN tutors and have them review your paper and citations.

If you need any help at all just reach out and we're happy to help!