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 a retrievable ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Copilot chat in APA 7 (September 2025), MLA 9 (August 2025), and Chicago 18. Official examples, share-URL rules, and when citation is not permission.
How to Import Citations from BibTeX, RIS, and CSL-JSON
Move a Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote, Google Scholar, or Overleaf library into CitationEasy as structured BibTeX, RIS, or CSL-JSON. Official format rules, real Crossref examples, and the export mistakes that drop authors and DOIs.
How to Export a Bibliography to Word or Google Docs
Hand off a finished APA 7, MLA 9, or Chicago 18 list to Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or Apple Pages with the official 0.5-inch hanging indent, or export RIS, BibTeX, and CSL-JSON for Zotero and Overleaf.
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 when no person or organization wrote the work, and they disagree on Anonymous, websites, and in-text form.
How to Cite a Source with No Date
Recover a usable date before you write n.d. APA 7 requires (n.d.), MLA 9 omits the date, and CMOS 18 uses n.d. plus an access date or a Wayback URL. Official examples from APA Style, the MLA Style Center, and the Chicago citation guides.
How to Cite Multiple Authors in APA, MLA, and Chicago
Count the names, then apply the APA 7, MLA 9, or CMOS 18 cutoff. Official et al. wording, two-author samples, 21-author ellipses, and the cases where a short form would name the wrong paper.
How to Cite the Same Source Multiple Times
Cite one source again in APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago 18: repeat author–date, drop a clear MLA author, or write a shortened note. Official wording, real examples, 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 publisher on a webpage. Official WHO, Toner, Burns, Google, Wikimedia, and Yale examples, plus 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 first-20-words, core-elements, and 280-character rules, with Gates, Chaucer Doth Tweet, NASA Webb, and CMOS Facebook examples.
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 rules, official quotations, and Style Center examples for journal PDFs, report downloads, ebooks, forms, and preprints.
How to Cite a Reprinted or Translated Work
Cite the copy you actually read when a book is a reprint, a translation, or both. APA 7 dual dates, MLA 9 supplemental years, and CMOS 18 reprint notes, with official handbook examples.
How to Cite Personal Communications and Emails
Recoverability decides the path: APA 7 cites emails and private interviews in the text only, MLA 9 builds a works-cited entry, and CMOS 18 keeps them in a note. Official examples from APA §8.9, the MLA Style Center, and CMOS 18 §14.111.
How to Cite a Court Case in APA, MLA, Chicago, and Bluebook
Cite one reported opinion in APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 18, and Bluebook 22. Uses official Brown, Durflinger, Tarasoff, Roe, Corley, and MLA Style Center examples.
How to Find a DOI for an Article, Book, Dataset, or Preprint
Recover a registered DOI from a PDF, publisher page, or library database, or look it up in Crossref, DataCite, PubMed, and the NCBI ID Converter. Test every 10. string at doi.org before you cite it.
How to Cite a Secondary Source (As Cited In)
Cite a work you read about in another work: APA 7 as cited in, MLA 9 qtd. in, Chicago 18 quoted in. Which work goes in the list, and when to find the original.
How to Cite a Source with No Page Numbers
Cite web pages, ebooks, videos, and podcasts with no page numbers: APA 7 para. or timestamp, MLA 9 no locator or par., Chicago 18 chap., heading, or time point.
How to Cite Two Works by the Same Author in the Same Year
Tell two 2020 works by one author apart: APA 7 and Chicago author-date add 2020a and 2020b in title order; MLA 9 and Chicago notes use shortened titles instead.
How to Cite Multiple Sources in One Citation
Several works in one parenthetical for APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago 18: semicolons, order rules, same-author years, see also, and one note for many sources.
How to Cite a Textbook
Cite a textbook in APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago 18: edition numbers, editors versus authors, one chapter of an edited textbook, e-textbooks with DOIs, and pages.
How to Cite an Organization as the Author (Group Author)
APA 7 spells out the group and brackets its abbreviation once, MLA 9 skips an author that is also the publisher, and Chicago 18 lists agencies as authors.
How to Cite a Source with No Title
APA 7 puts a description in square brackets, MLA 9 writes a plain sentence-case description, and Chicago 18 uses a descriptive phrase with no quotation marks.
How to Cite a Photograph You Took Yourself (and Other Work You Created)
An unpublished photo you took needs a label, not a reference. APA 7 figure notes, MLA 9 captions, Chicago 18 credit lines, and citing your own published work.
How to Cite a Figure or Table Reproduced from Another Source
Reprint or adapt a figure, table, or image with the right credit: APA 7 copyright notes, MLA 9 captions and source lines, Chicago 18 credit lines, and fair use.
How to Cite a Syllabus, Class Handout, or Course Pack
Cite a syllabus, class handout, or course pack: APA 7 LMS and personal-communication rules, MLA 9 course containers, and Chicago 18 notes, with full examples.
How to Cite a Museum Exhibit, Label, or Artifact
Cite an artwork seen in person, an exhibition label, the exhibition itself, or a museum catalog in APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago 18, with worked examples.
How to Cite a Lab Manual
Cite a published lab manual as a book, a departmental or course-pack manual as unpublished coursework, and a protocols.io protocol in APA, MLA, and Chicago.
How to Cite a Source in Another Language
Cite a source you read in another language: original title, bracketed translation, transliteration, and your own translations in APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago 18.
Harvard Referencing: The Complete Guide
Harvard is an author-date family, not one manual. Learn Cite Them Right Harvard in-text citations and reference list entries for books, articles and websites.
Referencing vs Citing: What Is the Difference?
Referencing and citing describe the same two-part system. Learn what a citation contains, what a reference contains, and how UK, US and Australian terms map.
Reference List vs Bibliography: Which One Do You Need?
A reference list holds only sources you cited; a bibliography holds everything you consulted. See which one APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard and OSCOLA require.