How to Cite Sources
By cwainwright@hubspot.com (Corey Wainwright)
The best content marketers aren’t afraid to share. Share content. Share links. Share ideas. Share data.
That said, you’re also supposed to give credit where credit is due. Learning how to properly cite sources will avoid any confusion and ensure you (and anyone you do business with) is following generally accepted internet sharing etiquette.
Below is a quick guide to help you navigate citing sources in essays and across the internet.
Skip to:
- Citing Sources in Essays
- Citing Sources in Blog Posts
- Citing Sources in Social Media
- Citing Images & Visual Content
Commonly Used Citation Styles
If you’re already working within a marketing team or educational institution, it’s possible they already have designated formats they’d like you to use for citing sources. Otherwise, you’ll need to choose one and stick with it consistently throughout the materials you’re publishing. Below are some of the types of citation styles you’ll find.
- MLA: Created by the Modern Language Association, MLA style is a set of writing standards and guidelines primarily used for citations in the humanities field and academic writing.
- APA: This format is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. The style is meant for professionals and academics in behavioral and social sciences.
- Chicago Style: Chicago style citations have two methods — One for notes and bibliography, which is often used by those in the humanities. The other for author-date citations which is the preferred method for those in the sciences.
How to Cite Sources in an Essay
When tasked with writing an essay, you’ll likely be using one of the citation styles above. Let’s look at a few examples to show you just how to do it. For simplicity, we’ll stick to formatting for in-text citations.
MLA
For citing sources in-text, MLA style is marked by using parentheses containing either the author of the quote or reference and the page number the reference is pulled from.
This example is pulled from an essay featured on MLA’s website.
If the author is mentioned in-text, you can omit it in the citation and just use the page number like in this example below.
APA
For in-text APA citations, use the author’s last name and publish date of the material you are referencing. If pulling a direct quote, include the page number as well.
Chicago Style
Since we’re sticking with in-text citations, we’ll cover the author-date format of chicago style citations. These citations included the author (or authors), publish date, and page number the reference is pulled from. Take this example from Murdoch University:
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Source:: HubSpot Blog
