Typically, academic work requires either MLA or APA citation style. Generally, MLA is expected in humanities and English, while APA is expected in social sciences work. Your instructor should clearly inform the class which citation style she prefers. If there is any doubt, ask. For your English 102 class, you will be using MLA citations.
Citations contain the information necessary for your reader (instructor) to understand what the information source was and where you located it. Citations will always contain two parts, an in-text citation that is directly connected to the information you are incorporating from the source material, and a longer citation that will be located on your Works Cited page and contains all possible details about the source material.
For more information constructing citations and for examples of citations for various types of sources (articles, books, websites, images, etc.), please see the following resources:
| MLA | APA |
| The Purdue OWL site offers the MLA style guide online for free. | The Purdue OWL site offers the APA style guide online for free. |
| Harold Washington College MLA style guide | Harold Washington College APA style guide |
