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Frequently asked questions

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  1. Home
  2. Frequently asked questions
  3. What citation styles does the Scribbr Citation Generator support?

What citation styles does the Scribbr Citation Generator support?

The Scribbr Citation Generator currently supports the following citation styles, and we’re working hard on supporting more styles in the future.

  • APA (6th edition and 7th edition)
  • MLA (8th edition)

Scribbr uses industry-standard citation styles from the Citation Styles Language project.


Frequently asked questions: Citing sources

What are some examples of primary sources?

Common examples of primary sources include interview transcripts, photographs, novels, paintings, films, historical documents, and official statistics.

Anything you directly analyze or use as first-hand evidence can be a primary source, including qualitative or quantitative data that you collected yourself.

What are some examples of secondary sources?

Common examples of secondary sources include academic books, journal articles, reviews, essays, and textbooks.

Anything that summarizes, evaluates or interprets primary sources can be a secondary source. If a source gives you an overview of background information or presents another researcher’s ideas on your topic, it is probably a secondary source.

How can you tell if a source is primary or secondary?

To determine if a source is primary or secondary, ask yourself:

  • Was the source created by someone directly involved in the events you’re studying (primary), or by another researcher (secondary)?
  • Does the source provide original information (primary), or does it summarize information from other sources (secondary)?
  • Are you directly analyzing the source itself (primary), or only using it for background information (secondary)?

Some types of source are nearly always primary: works of art and literature, raw statistical data, official documents and records, and personal communications (e.g. letters, interviews). If you use one of these in your research, it is probably a primary source.

Always make sure to properly cite your sources to avoid plagiarism.

Is a movie a primary or secondary source?

A fictional movie is usually a primary source. A documentary can be either primary or secondary depending on the context.

If you are directly analyzing some aspect of the movie itself – for example, the cinematography, narrative techniques, or social context – the movie is a primary source.

If you use the movie for background information or analysis about your topic – for example, to learn about a historical event or a scientific discovery – the movie is a secondary source.

Whether it’s primary or secondary, always properly cite the movie in the citation style you are using. Learn how to create an MLA movie citation or an APA movie citation.

Is a newspaper article a primary or secondary source?

Articles in newspapers and magazines can be primary or secondary depending on the focus of your research.

In historical studies, old articles are used as primary sources that give direct evidence about the time period. In social and communication studies, articles are used as primary sources to analyze language and social relations (for example, by conducting content analysis or discourse analysis).

If you are not analyzing the article itself, but only using it for background information or facts about your topic, then the article is a secondary source.

When should I cite a chapter instead of the whole book?

In APA and Chicago Style, when the book’s chapters are written by different authors, you should cite the specific chapter you are referring to.

Single-author books should be cited as a whole, even if you only quote or paraphrase from one chapter.

Why are DOIs important?

A DOI is a unique identifier for a digital document. DOIs are important in academic citation because they are more permanent than URLs, ensuring that your reader can reliably locate the source.

Journal articles and ebooks can often be found on multiple different websites and databases. The URL of the page where an article is hosted can be changed or removed over time, but a DOI is linked to the specific document and never changes.

How do I find the DOI of an article?

The DOI is usually clearly visible when you open a journal article on an academic database. It is often listed near the publication date, and includes “doi.org” or “DOI:”. If the database has a “cite this article” button, this should also produce a citation with the DOI included.

If you can’t find the DOI, you can search on Crossref using information like the author, the article title, and the journal name.

How do I cite a quote in academic writing?

Every time you quote a source, you must include a correctly formatted in-text citation. This looks slightly different depending on the citation style.

For example, a direct quote in APA is cited like this: “This is a quote” (Streefkerk, 2020, p. 5).

Every in-text citation should also correspond to a full reference at the end of your paper.

What is a quote?

A quote is an exact copy of someone else’s words, usually enclosed in quotation marks and credited to the original author or speaker.

When should I use quotes?

In academic writing, there are three main situations where quoting is the best choice:

  • To analyze the author’s language (e.g. in a literary analysis essay).
  • To give evidence from primary sources.
  • To accurately present a precise definition or argument.

Don’t overuse quotes; your own voice should be dominant. If you just want to provide information from a source, it’s usually better to paraphrase or summarize.

What is a block quote?

A block quote is a long quote formatted as a separate “block” of text. Instead of using quotation marks, you place the quote on a new line, and indent the entire quote to mark it apart from your own words.

The rules for when to apply block quote formatting depend on the citation style:

  • APA block quotes are 40 words or longer.
  • MLA block quotes are more than 4 lines of prose or 3 lines of poetry.
  • Chicago block quotes are longer than 100 words.
What is a summary?

A summary is a short overview of the main points of an article or other source, written entirely in your own words.

How long is a summary?

A summary is always much shorter than the original text. The length of a summary can range from just a few sentences to several paragraphs; it depends on the length of the article you’re summarizing, and on the purpose of the summary.

How can I summarize a source without plagiarizing?

To avoid plagiarism when summarizing an article or other source, follow these two rules:

  • Write the summary entirely in your own words by paraphrasing the author’s ideas.
  • Cite the source with an in-text citation and a full reference so your reader can easily find the original text.

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How does Scribbr help students graduate?

Our team helps students graduate by offering:

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  • Over 300 helpful articles about academic writing, citing sources, plagiarism, and more
What type of documents does Scribbr proofread?

Scribbr specializes in editing study-related documents. We proofread:

  • Essays
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What technology does the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker use?

The Scribbr Plagiarism Checker is powered by elements of Turnitin’s Similarity Checker, namely the plagiarism detection software and the Internet Archive and Premium Scholarly Publications content databases.

What citation styles does the Scribbr Citation Generator support?

The Scribbr Citation Generator currently supports the following citation styles, and we’re working hard on supporting more styles in the future.

  • APA (6th edition and 7th edition)
  • MLA (8th edition)

Scribbr uses industry-standard citation styles from the Citation Styles Language project.

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