Citation help
Cite your sources using an accepted style guide such as the ones listed below. Check out the style guides and related information below to learn more.
You can also book an appointment with a librarian for more citation help.
Choose a style guide
Most UVic departments use well-known guides such as APA, MLA or Chicago. Some departments may use their own style guide or the style of a particular journal.
Ask your instructor which style guide to use. If they let you decide, choose the style you like best or are most familiar with. Make sure to avoid using a style incorrectly or switching between different styles.
Access style guides
-
American Medical Association (AMA)
The AMA Manual of Style is often used in medical, health and scientific publishing.
-
American Psychological Association (APA)
APA is used by psychologists, and often anthropology, business and many other social sciences at UVic.
-
Associated Press (AP)
Associated Press Style provides guidelines for news writing, and is used by journalists, especially in the United States.
-
Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (McGill Guide)
The McGill guide is the most common guide to citing legal references in Canada.
-
Canadian Press (CP)
Canadian Press style is used by journalists, communications professionals and publishers in Canada.
-
Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS)
Chicago style provides two formats:
- Notes and Bibliography style, featuring footnotes, used in history and many other humanities disciplines
- Author–Date style, featuring parenthetical in-text notes, used in many social sciences
-
Council of Science Editors (CSE)
CSE Style is widely used in scientific disciplines, particularly in the natural and physical sciences.
-
Department of History (UVic)
The Department of History style guide is based on Chicago (Notes and Bibliography) style, with additional information on formatting and writing.
-
Elements of Indigenous Style: A guide for writing by and about Indigenous Peoples
Use this Canadian book alongside your citation style guide to ensure respectful inclusion of Indigenous authors, sources and topics in your writing.
-
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
IEEE is the preferred style for engineers.
-
Modern Language Association (MLA)
MLA is often used in literature studies and other humanities disciplines.
-
Turabian
Turabian Style is a version of Chicago Style designed for students and teachers.
-
Vancouver / International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
The Vancouver system or Vancouver Style is commonly used in medicine, and is used by Medline and Pubmed.
Citation management
Citation generators are online tools that automatically create citations in your preferred style. Citation managers help you organize your references, generate citations and create a bibliography.
UVic Libraries mainly supports Zotero citation management software.
- learn more about citation generators
- learn more about citation managers
- get help with Zotero
- take a workshop
Other resources
Our philosophy of citation help
Our focus is to educate researchers about information literacy according to UVic Libraries' Guiding Principles for Research Help. Our goal is to teach you how to find and use citation guides correctly. Understanding and using citation styles is a key part of academic integrity.
We offer support with widely used citation styles. Discipline-specific styles may require the help of a subject librarian.