What is a citation?

A citation is all the information about a given source organized according to a standard format or citation style guide.

MLA, APA and Chicago Style are used in classes at Oakton College.

Citations include information such as

• author's name,
• title of the book, article or website,
• name of the magazine or journal,
• date published or updated
• if the information was found in print or online

Using citations gives credit to an author or creator for their research, writings and ideas.

Two essential ways to use citations in your paper are shown below.

Below are two types of MLA citations for an article from the Opposing Viewpoints database on the topic of universal basic income.

1) in the text

AND

2) on the Works Cited page.

An in-text citation in your paper with a quote or a paraphrase

"The Chicago City Council is poised to vote this week on what would be one of the nation's largest basic income programs, giving 5,000 low-income households $500 per month." (Guarino)

A complete citation for the same article will be included on the Works Cited page at the end of your paper.

Guarino, Mark. "Chicago poised to create one of the nation's largest 'guaranteed basic income' programs." Washingtonpost.com, 25 Oct. 2021, Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A680194390/OVIC?u=uiuc_oak&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=0b1b47bb.

Here's a link to the article if you want to see the original source.

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A680194390/OVIC?u=uiuc_oak&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=0b1b47bb

It can be handy to have software create and format citations.

Be careful. If you are getting points on your grading rubric for your citations, it's up to you to check every citation.  

Be sure to use citations from the Oakton Library article databases.  Then, check and make changes when needed.

Zbib from Zotero is a citation generator that can create citations and the list for your Works Cited page. Use the link below to try Zbib.

When you are finishing your research paper, it's important to gather up all of your sources and make a list of complete citations for each source.

The list of citations has a specific title in MLA style.

• Works Cited

Citation lists use the following rules:

• Start your list of citations on a new page
• Center the title - Works Cited - at the top of your citation list
• Arrange the citations in alphabetical order by the last name of the author
•         or, if there is no author, by the first major word in the title.
• Double space the information in the list
• Use a hanging indent for each entry
• Do not number items in the list of citations

Rebecca Crown. (2020, April 30). Hanging Indent [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/ZGNU5C0Z8qg?si=rX1-P0RzslJ7M7sQ

You should

• cite a generative AI tool whenever you paraphrase, quote, or incorporate into your own work any content (whether text, image, data, or other) that was created by an AI app or program.
• acknowledge all functional uses of the tool (like editing your prose or translating words) in a note, your text, or another suitable location 
• take care to vet the secondary sources it cites

An example of an MLA citation for using AI to paraphrase information for an essay.

Works-Cited-List Entry

“Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald” prompt. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.

”How do I cite generative AI in MLA style?” MLA Style Center, Modern Language Association. 17 Mar. 2023, https://style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai/

Click the link below for more details and examples of in-text and Works Cited citations.

"Is ChatGPT Making up Sources and rReferences?" YouTube uploaded by Oxford Review, 16 Feb. 2023,  https://youtu.be/rQ7-HqEgF40?si=0I0_sBdQdW0ZoTTY