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Real Estate and Urban Action

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Major Citation Styles

APA - American Psychological Association

Business, psychology, and other social sciences

Chicago - Chicago Manual of Style

History, religion & theology, humanities, some sciences

Turabian

History, religion & theology, other humanities

NOTE: Many people refer to "Chicago" and "Turabian" interchangeably. Though they are similar in structure, there are significant differences. Be mindful about which guide you should use.

MLA - Modern Language Association

English literature, non-English literature, other humanities

Science Citation Styles

Science researchers often use the citation style of leading journals instead of a standardized style.  Ask your instructor about the preferred style. Here are some common science citation styles; be aware that your requirements may differ.

Legal Citation

The most common style manual for citing legal documents is the The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.  APA, MLA and Chicago guides all refer to the Bluebook for citing to documents such as legal cases. More Legal Citation Help.

Check with Your Instructor

Librarians can help you locate the right resources for your research tasks, including style guides and citation managers. Many librarians can even provide some citation instruction.
For questions like the following, check with your instructor: Which citation style should I use? Is this paraphrase too close to the original language? Is this an accurate summary? Is this citation correct? Is this bibliographic entry correct?