cite policy research working paper

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Citing a policy

Create a new citation.

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Published February 3, 2021. Updated November 17, 2021.

To create a reference or citation for a policy, you will need to know the department name, title of the policy, and year.

The examples below will show you how to cite a policy in MLA style, APA style, Chicago style, and Harvard referencing style.

Easily cite a policy in the style of your choice using the  Chegg Writing citation generator .

Citing a policy in MLA style

In-text citation example:

(Council of the European Union)

Works cited entry example:

Council of the European Union.  European Consensus on Development: Outcome of Proceedings.  General Secretariat of the Council, 2017. ec.europa.eu/europeaid/policies/european-development-policy/european-consensus-development_en.

Help protect your paper against accidental plagiarism with the Chegg Writing  plagiarism checker  and  citation generator .

Citing a policy in APA style

(Council of the European Union, 2017)

Reference list entry example:

Council of the European Union. (2017).  European consensus on development: Outcome of proceedings . https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/policies/european-development-policy/european-consensus-development_en.

Citing a policy in Chicago style, notes-bibliography

Footnotes example:

Council of the European Union, European Consensus on Development: Outcome of Proceedings , 2017, accessed January 23, 2021, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-18-education-and-funding-review-interim-conclusion.

Bibliography entry example:

Council of the European Union.  European Consensus on Development: Outcome of Proceedings . 2017. Accessed January 23, 2021. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-18-education-and-funding-review-interim-conclusion.

Citing a policy in Chicago style, author-date

(Council of the European Union 2017)

Council of the European Union. 2017.  European Consensus on Development: Outcome of Proceedings . Accessed January 23, 2021. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-18-education-and-funding-review-interim-conclusion.

How to cite a policy in Harvard referencing style

Reference list entry template and example:

Council of the European Union (2017)  European consensus on development: Outcome of proceedings . Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/policies/european-development-policy/european-consensus-development_en (Accessed: 23 January 2021).

Writing a paper ? Don’t forget to include a  bibliography .

Citation Examples

Digital media, personal communication, government documents, additional sources, frequently asked questions, how do i cite a policy in mla.

To cite a policy in MLA style, the core elements required are the individual or organization’s author name (if different than the organization that published the work), policy title, the name of the organization that published the work, and the year of publication.

Policy authored AND published by an organization

In-text citation template & example:

( Abbreviated Policy Title )

( Policy on the Continuum )

Reference list entry template & example:

Author Name* (Individual or Organization).  Policy Title . Publishing Organization Name ,  Year.

Policy on the Continuum of Teacher Education . Teaching Council, 2011.

Policy where author and publisher are different

Note that the author name is not necessary when the organization both wrote  and  published the work; however, the author name is necessary when one organization authored the work and another published the work.

Department of Education.  Policy on the Continuum of Teacher Education . Teaching Council, 2011.

How do I cite a policy in APA?

To cite a policy in APA, use the core required elements: the name of the individual author or organization, the publication year, the title of the policy, the publisher, and the DOI/URL (if applicable). The table below shows how to format the in-text citation and the reference list entry for a policy in APA.

In-text citation template and example:

(Individual Author’s Surname/Organization Name, Year of Publication)

(China’s State Council, 2018)

Individual author’s Surname, F.M./Organization Name. (Year of publication).  Title of the policy . Publisher. URL

China’s State Council. (2018).  On the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy . http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2018-02/04/content_5263807.htm

* Do not repeat the publisher’s name if the publisher and author are the same.

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How to Cite a Working Paper

Last Updated: December 6, 2022 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Gerald Posner and by wikiHow staff writer, Jennifer Mueller, JD . Gerald Posner is an Author & Journalist based in Miami, Florida. With over 35 years of experience, he specializes in investigative journalism, nonfiction books, and editorials. He holds a law degree from UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley. He’s the author of thirteen books, including several New York Times bestsellers, the winner of the Florida Book Award for General Nonfiction, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History. He was also shortlisted for the Best Business Book of 2020 by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 35,353 times.

When writing a research paper, especially about a cutting-edge topic, you might want to use a working paper as a source. Working papers present the most recent research, so you know your paper will be up-to-date, but how do you cite it? Generally, you cite a working paper in such a way that your readers understand it hasn't been published yet. The specific format differs depending on whether you're using Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), or Chicago style. [1] X Research source

• Example: Foarta, Dana and Massimo Morelli.

• Example: Foarta, Dana and Massimo Morelli. "Equilibrium Reforms and Endogenous Complexity."

• Example: Foarta, Dana and Massimo Morelli. "Equilibrium Reforms and Endogenous Complexity." Stanford Graduate School of Business Faculty Working Papers ,

• Example: Foarta, Dana and Massimo Morelli. "Equilibrium Reforms and Endogenous Complexity." Stanford Graduate School of Business Faculty Working Papers , 2018,

• Example: Foarta, Dana and Massimo Morelli. "Equilibrium Reforms and Endogenous Complexity." Stanford Graduate School of Business Faculty Working Papers , 2018, www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working-papers/equilibrium-reforms-endogenous-complexity.
• In most citations, this will be the last element. However, there's an optional element you can use if you need to add more information to describe the source. For example, if you have to download the paper to read it, you might add "PDF download" so your readers know that. You can also use this element to label the source ("Working paper") if you didn't identify it as a working paper in your text.

• For example, you might write: Decision makers have trouble evaluating proposed reforms if they're not aware of the competence of the person proposing the reform (Foarta and Morelli 1).

• Example: Berndt, A., Duffie, D., & Zhu, Y.

• Example: Berndt, A., Duffie, D., & Zhu, Y. (2020).

• Example: Across-the-curve credit split indices (Working Paper No. 3884).

• Example: Berndt, A., Duffie, D., & Zhu, Y. (2020). Across-the-curve credit split indices (Working Paper No. 3884). Stanford Graduate School of Business Faculty Working Papers.

• Example: Berndt, A., Duffie, D., & Zhu, Y. (2020). Across-the-curve credit split indices (Working Paper No. 3884). Stanford Graduate School of Business Faculty Working Papers. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working-papers/across-curve-credit-spread-indices

• For example, you might write: The across-the-curve credit spread index could serve as a benchmark for risk management (Berndt, Duffie, & Zhu, 2020).
• If you use the author's name in the text of your paper, place a parenthetical with the year immediately after their name. For example, you might write: Berndt, Duffie, and Zhu (2020) created a weighted index to measure the average cost of unsecured debt held by banks.
• If you quote directly from the source, add a comma after the year and put the page number (or range) where the quoted material can be found in your parenthetical citation.

• Example: Van Loon, Austin, Amir Goldberg, and Sameer Srivastava.

• Example: Van Loon, Austin, Amir Goldberg, and Sameer Srivastava. "Differences Beyond Identity: Perceived Construal Distance and Interparty Animosity in the United States."

• Example: Van Loon, Austin, Amir Goldberg, and Sameer Srivastava. "Differences Beyond Identity: Perceived Construal Distance and Interparty Animosity in the United States." Working paper, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2020.

• Example: Van Loon, Austin, Amir Goldberg, and Sameer Srivastava. "Differences Beyond Identity: Perceived Construal Distance and Interparty Animosity in the United States." Working paper, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2020. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working-papers/differences-beyond-identity-perceived-construal-distance-interparty.

• Example: Austin Van Loon, Amir Goldberg, and Sameer Srivastava, "Differences Beyond Identity: Perceived Construal Distance and Interparty Animosity in the United States," (working paper, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2020), pp. 12-14, https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working-papers/differences-beyond-identity-perceived-construal-distance-interparty.
• After your first footnote, use a shortened footnote form with only the author's last name and the title of the paper in quotation marks: Van Loon, Goldberg, and Srivastava, "Differences Beyond Identity: Perceived Construal Distance and Interparty Animosity in the United States."

Expert Q&A

• If the working paper has a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) assigned, use it instead of the URL. [19] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Even though it might not be required by your style guide or your instructor, it's still a good idea to mention the status of the source as a working paper in the text of your paper so your readers know how much weight to give it. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Keep tabs on the status of the working paper until you turn in your own project. If the paper is published, cite to the published version instead of the working paper. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• This article covers citation methods using the MLA 8th edition (2016), the APA 7th edition (2019), and the Chicago 17th edition (2017). Check with your supervisor or instructor to make sure which edition you should be using. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://libguides.brown.edu/citations/styles
• ↑ https://style.mla.org/working-papers/
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_in_text_citations_the_basics.html
• ↑ https://ggu.libguides.com/c.php?g=106881&p=5696915
• ↑ https://guides.library.sc.edu/citation/apa
• ↑ https://library.ulethbridge.ca/chicagostyle/books/multiple
• ↑ https://libguides.nps.edu/citation/chicago-nb#working-paper
• ↑ https://uscupstate.libguides.com/c.php?g=452037&p=3086943

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Policy Research: How to Cite Policy Resources

• What is policy?
• Bills & Laws
• Histories & Tracings
• Ballot Measures
• Executive & Judicial
• Evaluating Policy Impact
• How to Cite Policy Resources

Useful Links on Citing Legislation and Laws

• Writing References for Federal Statutes (6th ed.) From the APA
• Citing Legal Materials From College of St. Scholastica

Citing Laws & Bills

Federal statute.

APA citation style for statutes is constructed with the following elements:

• Name of Statute
• Title Number
• Source (e.g. United States Code or U.S.C. for short)
• Section Number(s)

Example: 

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601–2654 (2006). https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title29/chapter28&edition=prelim

For more information, please review  Writing References for Federal Statutes from the APA blog. 

State Statute

Example of a state law citation from the Purdue OWL website :  Mental Care and Treatment Act, 4 Kan. Stat. Ann.§§ 59-2901-2941 (1983 & Supp. 1992).

Explanation: This Kansas act can be found in codified version between sections 2901 and 2941 in Chapter 59 of volume 4 of the 1983 edition of Kansas Statutes Annotated. Two amendments to the act and additional references are provided in the 1992 supplement for the Kansas Statutes Annotated.

Federal or State Bills

For unenacted bills, gather the following information:

• Name of Bill
• Senate or House bill number. Use S. for Senate, H. for House
• Congressional session number
• URL of page you found the bill

Oil Pollution Prevention and Response Act of 2009, S. 684, 111th Cong. (2009). https://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.684

Government Reports & Websites

Government webpage.

List as much of the following information as possible--you might need to look closely at the website:

Government Agency. (Date of publication).  Title of webpage.  https://Web address

Example: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014).  School-associated violent death study.  Retreived from: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/youthviolence/schoolviolence/savd.html

Government Report

Citing a government report is similar to citing a book. Often the author will be the government agency. If there is a specific report number available reference, include it in parentheses after the title. 

Example: National Institute of Mental Health. (1990).  Clinical training in serious mental illness  (DHHS Publication No. ADM 90-1679). U.S. Government Printing Office.

News Articles

From Purdue OWL : 

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article.  Title of Newspaper . https://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Example: Parker-Pope, T. (2008, May 6). Psychiatry handbook linked to drug industry.  The New York Times . Retrieved from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com

Cite Your Data Set

It is increasingly important to cite your data sources, just like you would normally cite a journal article that you used to support your research.

• How to cite a data set in APA

Here is an example of a data set citation from the APA Blog:

Pew Hispanic Center. (2004).  Changing channels and crisscrossing cultures: A survey of Latinos on the news media  [Data file and code book]. Retrieved from http://pewhispanic.org/datasets/

Online help with APA Citations

• APA 7 Crash Course Interactive Tutorial
• Purdue's Guide to APA

Citation Generators in PsycINFO & Google Scholar

Tools like PsycINFO, Google Scholar, and other databases provide you with APA formatted references, but always remember to double-check them -- often there will be a couple details that need to be corrected.  

APA Publication Manual

Complete instructions on citing and useful information on writing style and content can be found in the latest edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Society. We have multiple copies in the Library in reference and on reserve; it's also worth considering buying your own if you are in the social sciences.

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• Last Updated: Nov 22, 2024 12:53 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.pdx.edu/policyresearch

APA 7th Edition - Citation Guide - CBS Library

• Introduction
• Format your Reference List
• Narrative Citations
• Repeating a Citation (Do NOT use ibid.)
• Combining Citations
• Parenthetical Citations
• Short & long quotation
• Books (Printed)
• eBooks (Electronic Book)
• Book with an Editor
• Edition of Books Other Than the First
• Chapter in an Edited Book
• Anthologies
• Entries in a Reference Book
• Entries in Online Encyclopedias
• Foreign Language Books
• Sacred Texts
• Journal Articles
• Newspaper Articles
• Magazine Articles
• Reviews (Book, Film, or Video)
• Advance Online Publication
• Online Videos (e.g. YouTube, TED)
• Videos (VHS/DVD/Blu-Ray)
• Videos Streamed Online (e.g. Netflix, Films on Demand)
• Television Episodes
• Music Recordings
• Webpages / Web Documents
• Entire Websites

Reports, working papers, white papers or similar

• Press Releases
• Film or Video Review
• Online Maps
• The Generic Reference
• Reports from Databases
• Online Lecture Notes or PowerPoint Slides
• Generative Artificial Intelligence
• Secondary sources
• Dansk lovstof
• EU legal documents
• Poster Sessions
• Theses & Dissertations
• Charter of the United Nations
• US Legal documents
• Research Interviews
• Personal Communication
• Tables and Figures
• What's New in APA 7th Edition?
• Help & Courses

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of report (Report No. xxx). Website. http://xxxxx

Example 1: Individual Author

Haugen, S. E. (2009). Measures of labor underutilization from the current population survey (Working Paper No. 424). Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://www.bls.gov/osmr/pdf/ec090020.pdf

As in-text citation:

(Haugen, 2009)

Example 2: Organizational Author

For agencies that are part of a hierarchy, you can use the specific agency instead of including the full hierarchy. If you introduce an abbreviation in your first in-text citation, you may use that abbreviation in subsequent citations.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2011). Your guide to anemia (NIH Publication No. 11-7629). http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/blood/anemia-yg.pdf

First Time: (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [NHLBI], 2011)

All Subsequent Times: (NHLBI, 2011)

Note: if the author and website are the same, omit the website.

Example 3: Report Retrieved from Other Site

Matese, M. A. (1997, March). Accountability-based sanctions (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Fact Sheet No. 58). National Criminal Justice Reference Service. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/fs-9758.pdf

(Matese, 1997)

Source: Publication Manual , 10.4 (examples 50-52)

Using Mendeley? (or another reference management tool)

For a correct APA 7 th reference, check the following:

- Reference Type is “Working Paper”.

- The following fields are filled out

• Author(s) (Use institution/organization if no personal author)
• Institution
• Number (in serie, if given)
• Serie (if given)
• DOI or URL (if online)

What is Mendeley?

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• Last Updated: Oct 18, 2024 10:29 AM
• URL: https://libguides.cbs.dk/APA7th

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How do you cite a working paper in MLA style?

Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook . For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .

A working paper is a draft or an early version of a piece of writing, usually one that either has been or will be submitted for publication. Working papers submitted for publication can also be called prepublication or preprint versions, or by the term gray literature . You should either indicate that the source is a working paper in your prose or use the optional-element slot at the end of the entry to do so. The following sentence and works-cited-list entry provide an example of how to cite a working paper that is available in an online archive:

In a working paper published in  CORE , an open-access repository for humanities research, Erin Rose Glass and Micah Vandegrift argue that “[c]onnecting to the public is a key part of the mission of higher education.” Work Cited Glass, Erin Rose, and Micah Vandegrift. “Public Scholarship in Practice and Philosophy.”  CORE , 2018, dx.doi.org/10.17613/g64d-gd16. PDF download.

The following provides an example of how you would use the optional-element slot at the end of the entry to indicate that the source is a working paper (if, say, you did not mention it in your prose):  

Work Cited Conover, Kellam. “Rereading the Death of Turnus: Ritual, Time and Poetics in the Aeneid .” Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics ,  www.princeton.edu/~pswpc/papers/authorAL/conover/conover.hml. Working paper.

Public Policy

• Articles and Books
• Think Tanks
• Statistics and Data
• News & Public Opinion

Citing Sources

Citation tools, interested in using generative ai tools like chatgpt and elicit, apa 7th citation style in 5 minutes.

Chicago Citation Style

The primary reasons for citing sources in a research paper are to give credit to the authors whose work you have drawn upon and to allow readers to track down your sources, should they wish to do so.

There are many style guides for formatting citations and creating bibliographies.  APA and Chicago are frequently used in public policy, but you may be called upon to use others.

See the box below for tools to help you format citations and bibliographies.

• Chicago Manual of Style (18th) The Chicago Manual of Style Online is the venerable, time-tested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format.
• Purdue OWL: APA Formatting and Style Guide Explains how to format a paper and citations in APA style.
• How To Cite Data (MSU Library) A concise page with helpful tips on citing your data and examples from three official style guides (APA, MLA, and Chicago). Includes information about how to cite tables, datasets, and citing within text. From Michigan State University Libraries.
• RefWorks This link opens in a new window RefWorks is an online research management, writing, and collaboration tool designed to help researchers gather, manage, store, and share information and generate citations and bibliographies.
• Zotero Zotero is a free tool designed to help you gather, manage and share information about books, articles, web pages and other digital objects that you are using in your research, and to generate citations and bibliographies. Zotero is a Mozilla browser plugin. You can choose to gather your data on your hard drive (if you are working mainly from one computer), or on a flash drive or a network (if you frequently access your data at multiple workstations).
• How to Cite U.S. Government Documents in APA Citation Style Cornell University guide to citing government documents.

*Reminder: Check your syllabus or ask your professor before using generative AI tools for an assignment. *

*Be aware of the copyright restrictions of any content you upload to an AI tool.

For more information on using generative AI resources in your research, visit our Research Guide .

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• Last Updated: Nov 26, 2024 4:28 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.georgetown.edu/PubPol

Social Policy and Programs

• Getting Started
• Current & Historical News Policies
• Laws and Statutes
• Academic Research Articles: Databases
• Think Tanks & Nonprofits
• APA Style, 7th Edition

Reference List Format

APA style dictates that authors are listed by last name followed by initials; publication year goes within parentheses, followed by a period. The title of an article or book title is in sentence-case, meaning only the first word and proper nouns in the title are capitalized. A periodical title is run in title case, and is followed by the volume number which, with the title, is also italicized.

Periodical (journal, magazine, newspaper) in print

Surname, F. M. (year). Title of article.  Title of Periodical, Vol# (issue#), page-numbers.

*Work, S. (2022). Social workers save lives.  Journal of All Good Things, 1 (1), 1-20.

Articles retrieved from electronic sources

APA style prefers the inclusion of DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) for online journal articles in reference lists. This is a unique number assigned to each published article. If there is no DOI, include the date retrieved and URL if the article is available on an open website. IF ONLY AVAILABLE THROUGH A DATABASE, do not include a URL (database URLs will not get readers to the article as they are often behind a paywall or the database URL times out). 

Surname, F. M. (year). Title of article.  Title of Periodical, Vol.# (issue#), page numbers. DOI

Mech, T. F., & Brooks, C. I. (1997). Anxiety and confidence in using a library by college freshmen and seniors. Psychological Reports , 81 (3, Pt 1), 929–930. https://doi-org/10.2466/pr0.1997.81.3.929

Surname, F. M. (year). Title of article.  Title of Periodical, Vol.# (issue#), page numbers. Retrieved Month date, Year, from URL

Article From a library database

When referencing material obtained from an online database (such as a database in the library) that does not have a DOI, provide appropriate print citation information (formatted like a  print citation would be for that type of work). This will allow people to retrieve the print version if they do not have access to the database from which you retrieved the article.  

*Smyth, A. M., Parker, A. L., & Pease, D. L. (2002). A study of enjoyment of peas.  Journal of Eating, 8 (3), 120-125.

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work : Capital letter to start subtitle. Location: Publisher.

(Note: For "Location," you should always list the city, but you should also include the state if the city is unfamiliar or if the city could be confused with one in another state or country.)

Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Book chapter :

Surname, F. M. (year). Title of chapter. In A. Editor (Edition #), Title of book (pp. xxx-xxx). Location: Publisher.

*Plum, I. (2021). Eating of fruits from iceboxes. In A. Johnson (Ed.),  Collection of things  (pp. 213-271). Ann Arbor: University of Ann Arbor Press.

Web document or webpage

List as much of the following information as possible (you sometimes have to hunt around to find the information; don't be lazy. If there is a page like http://www.somesite.com/somepage.htm, and somepage.htm doesn't have the information you're looking for, move up the URL to http://www.somesite.com/):

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year, Month Date). Title of page. Site name. URL

*Thing, O., & Thing, T. (2022, July 26). The Habits of cats. News You Confuse. http://www.nc.co/habitsofcats

In the reference list for federal or state statutes, include the name of the statute, title of the source, section number and publication date in parentheses. The URL is optional. (See section 11.5 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , 7th edition, for detailed information.)

Every Student Succeeds Act, 20 U.S.C. § 6301 (2015). 

(This Act is codified in Title 20 of the  United States Code . Find keyboard shortcuts for legal symbols -- like the section symbol § -- at Clio.com .)

Policy brief

Surname, F. M. (year).  Title of brief in italics  [Policy brief]. Organization. URL

Harwell, M. (2018). Don't expect too much: The limited usefulness of common SES measures and a prescription for change [Policy brief]. National Education Policy Center. https://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/SES

Additional details and examples can be found on the Citation Help guide  and on the Purdue OWL APA Style guide .

The APA's own Style website  also has examples. Additionally, the APA Style Blog offers citation styles for unusual works, such as music albums  or a canceled conference presentation  as well as general discussions of APA style.

*Totally not a reference to a real thing.

In Text Citations

APA uses the author-date method of citation.

• For a work by a single author, the last name of the author and the year of publication are used in the text: Walker (2000) 
• For a work by two authors always cite both names every time the reference occurs in the text: (Baker and Lightfoot, 1992)  
• When a work has three or more authors, cite only the first author followed by “et al." Wasserstein et al. (1994)...  Omit year from subsequent citations after first citation within a paragraph: Wasserstein et al. ...
• Corporations, associations and government agencies as authors are listed in full in the first citations (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 1991) and as abbreviations in subsequent citations (NIMH, 1999).
• For works with no author, cite the first few words of the title and the year: The book College Bound Seniors (1979).
• For statutes, include the name of the Act and the date: (Civil Rights Act, 1964)

If your resource does not fit these examples, don't be discouraged! Consult the social work librarian, the APA Publication Manual ,  the Style Blog ,   Purdue OWL , or Ask A Librarian!

Open Resources

• APA Style Blog Particularly helpful for the structure for citing unusual materials, such as blog comments and social media posts.
• Introducing the 7th edition APA Style Manual (YouTube)
• Purdue Online Writing Lab, APA Style Reference list Information about reference lists and other aspects of APA style are outlined on the Purdue OWL.
• SSW Writing Help - APA Style
• ZoteroBib This is a free tool that can format bibliographies automatically.
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APA vs. Chicago Style for Citing Public Policy Research

Creating citations & bibliographies, chicago style, citation style - library books available, citation machines, citing ai in apa and chicago style, drescher graduate campus librarian.

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APA (American Psychological Association) is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences. This resource, revised according to the 6th edition of the APA manual, offers examples for the general format of APA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the reference page.

When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, E.g., (Jones, 1998), and a complete reference should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

If you are referring to an idea from another work but NOT directly quoting the material, or making reference to an entire book, article or other work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication in your in-text reference.

• As with any citation stystem using it correctly protects the writer from accusations of plagiarism. As mentioned earlier in this guide proper citation builds credibility to the paper by demonstrating accountability to source material. If you are asked to use APA format, be sure to consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition, second printing.  

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) covers a variety of topics from manuscript preparation and publication to grammar, usage, and documentation.

There are two main styles:

The Chicago NB system is most often used in History and is often used in the humanities and provides writers with a system for referencing their sources through footnote or endnote citation in their writing and through bibliography pages.

As with any citation stystem using it correctly protects the writer from accusations of plagiarism. As mentioned earlier in this guide proper citation builds credibility to the paper by demonstrating accountability to source material.

• In the Author-Date System each citation consists of two parts: the text citations , which provides brief identifying information within the text, and the reference list (list of sources used) which provides full bibliographic information.  

From: Descriptions for Style Guides (APA) Russell, T., Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderland, L., & Brizee, A. (2010, August 1, 2010). General format. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/

Citing References In Your Paper (University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center)

Annotated Bibliographies (Purdue Online Writing Center)

How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography (Cornell)

APA Style (American Psychological Association)

APA Formatting and Style Guide (Purdue Online Wriitng Center)

Chicago Manual of Style (Purdue Online Writing Center)

Chicago Manual of Style : Author-Date System (Williams College)

Chicago Manual of Style: Documentary Note or Humanities Style  (Williams College)

Chicago Manual of Style Online Quick Guide

• Easy Bib Free Citation Creator for MLA, APA and Chicago/Turabian.
• KnightCite Manually enter information to generate MLA, APA and Chicago Style citations.
• NCSU Citation Builder The citation builder is based on the following citation tools: American Psychological Association 6th ed., Modern Language Association 7th ed., Modern Language Association 8th ed., Chicago Manual of Style 16th ed., Council of Science Editors

In APA 7th edition Format:

Based on  APA Style  guidance.

Outline of an APA Citation for AI        Name of Company/creator of generative AI Tool. (Year).  Name of generative AI tool  (Month Date version) [Large language model]. URL.

Real World Example:

       OpenAI. (2023).  ChatGPT  (June 16 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

The full transcript of a response can be included in an appendix or other supplementary materials.

In Chicago 17th edition Format:

Footnote or Endnote:

OpenAI's ChatGPT, response to query from author, February 15, 2023.

Bibliographic Reference:

Author’s (Parent Company) Medium, Response to “Query in quotes.” Name of Website, Parent Company, Date accessed, URL.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Response to “Explain to general audiences the possible causes and effects of climate change.” ChatGPT, OpenAI, February 15, 2023, https://chatgpt.pro/

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