Citations give credit to the the author as well as enable other researchers (or your instructor) to locate the cited item.
All sources should be cited in a bibliography or reference list and in the text or footnotes of a research paper.
In addition to this guide, Binghamton University Libraries has several interactive tutorials on the Online Tutorials page under the Citations and Academic Integrity section.
Citation styles provide rules for writing and formatting in-text citations (i.e., parenthetical citations, footnotes, or endnotes) and source lists (e.g., bibliography, works cited). These styles also provide guidance on how to format the text of the paper (including use of graphs, charts, and images) and writing conventions for the field.
Common styles include APA, MLA, and Chicago Manual of Style, but many subjects and journals have their own styles.
Your instructor may require the use of a specific style or allow students to choose. Either way, what's important is that you use the style consistently throughout your paper.
Citation managers (sometimes called reference managers) are tools that allow you to:
Binghamton University Libraries provides supports for three free citation managers: Zotero, Mendeley, and EndNote Basic. For more information about these tools and assistance, please see our Citation Managers page.
