Citing Electronic Information

Many people want to know how to cite information that they find on the Internet in school papers, theses, reports, etc.

Online Citation Style Guides

Here are some places to go online that explain how to cite electronic information sources using the most common citation styles.

• APA Reference List: Electronic Sources from the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/
• The Chicago Manual of Style: Web Sources from the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/05/
• CSE Quick Citation Guide from Penn State University Libraries, Library Learning Services
  http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/lls/students/cse_citation.html
• Introduction to Basic Legal Citation: How to Cite Electronic Sources by Peter W. Martin, Legal Information Institute (LII), Cornell University Law School
  http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/
• ipl2's Style and Writing Guide Section
  Resources by Subject > Reference > Style and Writing Guides
• MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web Publications) from the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/
• Quick Guide: ACS Citation Style from Penn State University Libraries, Library Learning Services
  http://www.libraries.psu.edu/content/dam/psul/up/pams/documents/QuickGuideACS.pdf

Citation Generators

Using a citation generator is an easy way to create citations in proper format. It is a type of online tool that creates bibliographic and in-text citations for you. Here are a couple that use the most common citation styles, like APA, Chicago, and MLA.

• BibMe
  http://www.bibme.org/
• Son of Citation Machine
  http://citationmachine.net/index2.php?start=#

Books

If you prefer citation style guides in book form, you can find the most common ones at your local public or college library. Guides are updated frequently, so make sure you refer to the most recent edition.

• ACS Style Guide: Effective Communication of Scientific Information, published by the American Chemical Society
• The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, published by the Harvard Law Review Association
• The Chicago Manual of Style, published by University of Chicago Press
• The Gregg Reference Manual: A Manual of Style, Grammar, Usage, and Formatting, by William A. Sabin, published by McGraw-Hill
• MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, by Joseph Gibaldi, published by the Modern Language Association of America
• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, published by the American Psychological Association
• Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, published by the Council of Science Editors

Not sure how to find your library? Go to our Library Locator page where we’ve listed resources to help you find the nearest physical library to you.

This FAQ updated by Kara Larson in 2012.