French

When you use the words, ideas, or creations of someone else, cite them. To make it easier to keep track of your sources, try a citation tool like Zotero. Not sure how to properly format your citations? Citation styles (MLA, APA, Chicago) give you detailed guidelines. The citation style you use will depend on the discipline, journal, or course for which you are writing. 

• A style guide or style manual is a set of standards for the writing and design of documents, either for general use or for a specific publication, organization or field.
• A style guide provides uniformity in style and formatting within a document and across multiple documents.
• Your professor will tell you which citation style to use for your paper or thesis. If not, the following list provides a general guide:
  • APA: Psychology, Education
  • ASA: Sociology
  • CBE/CSE: Biology, Natural Sciences, Neuroscience
  • Chicago/Turabian: History, Art History, Political Science
  • MLA (8th edition or 9th edition): English, Humanities

1. Install Zotero (and browser connectors) from zotero.org/download.
2. As you research, save sources by clicking on the Save to Zotero icon (looks like a book, sheet of paper, webcam, etc. depending on the source type) in your browser's toolbar or URL bar.
3. Organize your sources in Zotero with collections or tags. Edit source information as needed. Take notes if you like.
4. Create citations and bibliographies by selecting items, right-clicking, and choosing Create bibliography from items. If you are using a word processor, you may prefer the Microsoft Word (or LibreOffice) Plugin.
5. Optionally sync your Zotero library in the cloud by creating a free online Zotero account at zotero.org.

More detailed instructions are offered in the rest of this how-to guide.