Guide library30 guides
Citation Help
Answers to the tricky cases: missing authors or dates, multiple authors, PDFs, AI tools, legal cases, and importing or exporting citations.
Every guide is free, written for students and researchers, and dated so you can see when it was last checked.
How to Cite ChatGPT and Other AI Tools
Cite ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, or Perplexity in APA 7 (live AI-references, February 2026), MLA 9 (August 2025), and Chicago 18. Official shared chats, leftover Gemini 3 Flash and Perplexity 2026, the 10 January 2026 Chicago Q&A, and when a citation is not permission.
How to Import Citations from BibTeX, RIS, and CSL-JSON
Move a Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote 2025.4.1, Google Scholar, or Overleaf library into CitationEasy as BibTeX, RIS, or CSL-JSON. Official format rules, live Crossref Grady–Knuth records (fetched 23 October 2026), and the leftovers: Overleaf's you-are biblatex advisory, Mendeley's action-panel Export plus Word XML, and Clarivate's support-center move.
How to Export a Bibliography to Word or Google Docs
Hand off a finished APA 7, MLA 9, or Chicago 18 list to Word, Google Docs, or Pages with a 0.5-inch hanging indent. leftover-Google-Insert-Works-Cited-or-Insert-References, leftover-APA-setup-guide-8-October-2025-Aptos, leftover-MLA-formatting-papers-Handbook-Plus, leftover-Microsoft-Applies-To-2024-for-Mac.
How to Cite a Source with No Author
Find a group author before you move the title. APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago 18 each put the title first only after that search fails, and they still disagree on Anonymous, websites, and in-text form. Leftovers: the official MLA Common Core URL now 404s, CMOS author-date prints Wikimedia as 2023 in the reference and 2022 in the text, and APA’s live webpage examples use NIMH and WHO—not a missing byline.
How to Cite a Source with No Date
Recover a publication or revision date before you write n.d. APA 7 §9.4 uses (n.d.), MLA 9 omits the date, and CMOS 18 §14.104 adds an access date or a Wayback URL. Official leftovers: Google Privacy now 16 October 2026, Yale Facts 2025 data, Alamo Just-world, Digital Dante Image, and Santos n.d.
How to Cite Multiple Authors in APA, MLA, and Chicago
Count the names, then apply one cutoff. APA 7 et al. from the first citation, MLA 9 first-name-only lists, and CMOS 18 §§13.23 and 13.107. Official Pope, Niepel, Grady, Burdick, Binder, and Snyder samples — plus the cases where a short form names the wrong paper. leftover-McCauley-as-current-Style-Center, leftover-Alamo-omits-Pope-Wall, leftover-eighth-edition-banner.
How to Cite the Same Source Multiple Times
Cite one source again in APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago 18: keep every APA year in parentheses, drop a clear MLA author, or write a CMOS 18 short note. Live Quick Guide Yu–Binder–Snyder specimens, official quotations, and the ibid. mistakes that mix the three styles.
How to Cite a Website with No Publisher
When APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago 18 omit a webpage publisher. Official WHO, Toner, Burns, Google 2023, Wikimedia, and Yale samples, the live Google Privacy Policy of 26 May 2026, and why n.p. is retired.
How to Cite Social Media in APA, MLA, and Chicago
Compare APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago 18 social-media citations. Official 20-word, core-elements, and 280-character rules, with the 3 March 2026 Obama X sample, Chaucer Doth Tweet, NASA Webb, and CMOS Facebook.
How to Cite a PDF in APA, MLA, and Chicago
Cite the work inside the file, not the file type. APA 7, MLA 9, and CMOS 18 leftover-checked on 20 October 2026: official quotations, Style Center samples, leftover-MLA-task-force-landing-404, leftover-WHO-DOI-now-exists, and leftover-psyarxiv-now-osf.
How to Cite a Reprinted or Translated Work
Cite the copy you actually read. APA 7 dual dates, MLA 9 supplemental years, and CMOS 18 reprint notes, using official Coelho, Watson, Achebe, Dry, and Liu examples.
How to Cite Personal Communications and Emails
Recoverability decides the path: APA 7 cites emails in the text only, MLA 9 builds a works-cited entry, CMOS 18 keeps them in a note, and Cite Them Right Harvard lists them. Official examples from APA §8.9, the MLA Style Center, CMOS 18 §14.111, and Cite Them Right.
How to Cite a Court Case in APA, MLA, Chicago, and Bluebook
Cite one reported U.S. opinion in APA 7, MLA 9, CMOS 18, and Bluebook 22. Live official Brown, Obergefell, Durflinger, Tarasoff, Roe–Dobbs, Corley, and MLA Style Center examples, opened 16 September 2026.
How to Find a DOI for an Article, Book, Dataset, or Preprint
Recover a registered DOI from a PDF, publisher page, or library database, then look it up in Crossref, DataCite Commons, PubMed, or the PMC ID Converter. Test every 10. string at doi.org. leftover-ISO-83170-404, leftover-DOI-Handbook-ISO-DIS-coming-months, leftover-DOI-Foundation-revised-2022, leftover-Bockelman-space, leftover-ODonohue-21600-versus-36966, leftover-Niepel-DOI-wrap.
How to Cite a Secondary Source (As Cited In)
Cite a work you read only in another work. APA 7 §8.6 as cited in (Rabbitt–Lyon, Allport–Nicholson), MLA 9 §6.77 qtd. in (Pope–Damrosch), and CMOS 18 §14.160 quoted in (Zukofsky–Costello).
How to Cite a Source with No Page Numbers
Use a real locator, not an invented page. APA 7 §8.28 gives para., a heading, or a timestamp; MLA 9 leaves the number out unless the source numbers itself; CMOS 18 cites chap., a heading, or a time point. Official examples: Chamberlin, Gecht-Silver, Cuddy, Hollmichel, and Roy Kindle.
How to Cite Two Works by the Same Author in the Same Year
Disambiguate two works by one author from the same year. APA 7 §§8.19 and 9.47 and CMOS 18 author-date add 2012a/2012b in date-then-title order; MLA 9 uses a shortened title. Official Judge, Merriam-Webster, Morrison, and Neff samples.
How to Cite Multiple Sources in One Citation
Group several works in one parenthetical or one note. APA 7 §8.12 is alphabetical with semicolons; MLA 9 lets you choose the order; CMOS 18 §§13.31 and 13.61 put many sources in a single note. Official Adams, Foucault–Barthes, Liu–Klein, and Yu–Binder examples.
How to Cite a Textbook
Cite the edition you actually read in APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago 18. Official Jackson–Dillard–Zeleke–McEwen, Wollstonecraft–Marche, and Borel–Doyle examples, plus the authored-book chapter trap.
How to Cite a Group Author (Organization as Author)
Cite a corporation, agency, or NGO as the author in APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago 18. Official group-author wording, the WHO 2025 and NCI samples, MLA's title-first publisher rule, and CMOS 18 site-owner entries.
How to Cite a Source with No Title
Recover a title before you invent one. APA 7 Table 9.1 puts a description in square brackets, MLA 9 writes a sentence-case description, and CMOS 18 uses a roman phrase or quotes the post. Official examples: Rinaldi, Baer, Frank, Karasik, Mackintosh, and Lincoln.
How to Cite a Photograph You Took Yourself
Unpublished photos you made are figures, not sources. APA 7 figure notes, the MLA Style Center Oculus caption, CMOS 18 §3.32 Photograph by the author, and how to cite work you later published.
How to Cite a Figure or Table Reproduced from Another Source
Reprint or adapt a figure or table with the credit your style actually requires: APA 7 §7.7 / §12.14–12.18 copyright notes (Lantagne–Furman, Ghalibaf, Denali Lava), MLA 9 Cassatt captions and the complete-caption works-cited rule, and CMOS 18 §§3.30–3.38 credit lines (Girouard, Lambeth Palace).
How to Cite a Syllabus, Class Handout, or Course Pack
Cite a syllabus, photocopied handout, or course pack in APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago 18. Recoverability test, official Mack–Elders–Mueller–Jackson examples, and CMOS unpublished notes.
How to Cite a Museum Exhibit, Label, or Artifact
Cite the object, the wall label, the exhibition, or the catalog in APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago 18. Official Wood, van Gogh, Bearden, Unbound, and Dalí examples — not one template for every gallery source.
How to Cite a Lab Manual
Cite a published lab manual as a book, a departmental PDF as unpublished coursework, and a versioned protocols.io protocol in APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago 18. Real Beran–Lassiter and Jones examples — no invented manuals.
How to Cite a Source in Another Language
Cite a work you read in its original language in APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago 18: keep the original title, add a bracketed translation, transliterate non-Latin scripts, and mark your own translations.
Harvard Referencing: Cite Them Right 13, with Real Examples
Harvard is an author-date family, not one manual. Follow Cite Them Right 13th edition (2025) for in-text citations and reference-list entries, and see where ARU, Leeds, UWE, and Australian sheets still differ.
Referencing vs Citing: What Is the Difference?
Citing is the short pointer in the text. Referencing is the full entry at the end. UK briefs say referencing; US briefs say citing. Official APA 7, MLA 9, CMOS 18, and Cite Them Right wording, with Baron, Yu, and Niepel.
Reference List vs Bibliography: Which One Do You Need?
APA 7 wants a cited-only References list. MLA 9 wants Works Cited. Chicago 18 wants a Bibliography with notes or References with author-date. Official wording, real examples, and what to do when a brief asks for both.