How to Cite an Essay: A Step by Step Guide

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Before we mitigate your confusion regarding how to cite an essay, try to understand what citation is and how it impacts your paper. 

Typically, a citation increases the credibility of a research paper while fighting plagiarism. When you locate particular sources of the given information in your paper, you are basically giving credit to the individuals with original intellectual works and findings.

Therefore, citation supports your research backed with authentic data while locating and citing the credit.

In a research paper, you work with logic; therefore, you need essential elements from pre-existing sources to summarize or describe the subject matter. 

In such areas, an in-text citation is a must based on the required citation style, order of information, and formatting. An in-text citation is an indication within your texts to refer to the fuller notation at the footer or at the end of the paper citation that includes all necessary details about the source.

Why is Citation Important for an Essay?

Citation is a win-win strategy for a researcher or writer. Why? Citing the sources in your research paper serves three primary purposes. 

• It is a credit-giving approach to the original author and their ideas. 
• By incorporating those sources with citations, you help readers get a complete overview of your discussion while allowing them to explore different perspectives through authentic research of different authors.
• You can avoid plagiarism and maintain the relevance of your paper with proper citation and style management.

Therefore, before you start writing, try to understand the proper methods of citing relevant sources in your reflective essay paper to maintain authenticity.

Essay Citations vs References

Citation	Reference
As you already know, a citation is just a brief to acknowledge a source within the texts of your paper. It indicates the location of the actual and complete reference.	A reference is, on the other hand, a complete bibliography that informs the reader about the source.
Depending on the style, citations typically consist of the author’s name, publication year, and page number.	Reference is more comprehensive, with detailed information about the author, page, and date to locate the source.
Citations are included in the text within the body of the paper.	You can locate references in the reference list, bibliography, or work cited section of an essay paper.

3 Compulsory Steps To Cite An Essay

The compulsory steps (based on three different styles of citation) are always mandatory when you are asking about how to cite an essay. These three style guides will help you to understand the proper methods and protocols to cite an essay.

All three methods are commonly used in citing an essay. So, here are the detailed descriptions of the three essay citing methods.

MLA(Modern Language Association)Format

First, we should know the places where we can use the MLA format. When we are writing anything and cite sources, we have to give the language arts, cultural studies, and other humanities-related topics. This is one modern technique for citing. So here is the first method of how to cite an essay.

The common format of MLA is-

Last name, First name, “Title Of The Essay.” Title of the collection, by first name, last name, Publisher, Year

Now, take a look at how to cite an essay using the MLA format.

•  First, start with the title of the author.
• Then, type the first name of the author, followed by a period.
• After that, write the title of the essay within the quotation marks.
• Each word of the title will start with a capital letter only if there is a preposition in the title. Then, you do not have to start the preposition with a capital letter. Other than the prepositions, all words have to start with capital words. 
• Then comes the writing part of the author’s name. The author’s name is always written in italic letters.
• The author’s name starts with the first name and then finishes with the author’s last name.
• After mentioning the name of the author, write down the publication name followed by a comma. Then, you have to mention the year of the publications.
• After mentioning the publication’s name, you have to add page no.
• You can use the author’s last name and the reference page number for in-text citations.

APA(American Psychological Association)Format

This formatting is required when you are writing a research paper or any thesis. This is a  more professional writing method rather than the other two methods. 

Now, jump into the topic of how to cite an essay using this professional method of formatting. This formatting is mostly required writing format for your student life.

The common format of APA is 

Last name of the Author, Year. Title of the essay   Last name, Title of the bigger work Pp. publisher.

Now, take a look at how to cite an essay using the APA method.

• First, start with the author’s second name.
• Then, write the author’s first initial in the writer’s name and close the statement.
• After these two, write down the year of bigger work publications in the first bracket.
• After mentioning the year, you have to close the statement, and then you have to mention the essay title.
• Then, you have to mention the author and title of the larger work.
• Before mentioning your larger work author, you have to start with In, and after completion of the author name, you have to write Ed within the first bracket.
• After mentioning the author and title of the larger work, You have to enlist the page range for the essay and the publisher year of the larger work.
• For in-text citations, you can use the author’s last name and year of publication.

Chicago Format

The Chicago formatting is mainly used in the history, social sciences, and different religious-based research work. The general format of the research papers has lots of similarities with the Chicago formatting.

The second important aspect of this formatting is that this type of essay citation is mainly used to cite the bibliography pages.

Now take a look at how to cite an essay through the Chicago formatting. This is an orthodox style of citing.

The standard Chicago-style formatting is:

Last name of the author, First name.” Title of the essay.” Title of the book from where the essay is collected, edited by the first name, last name,##. Location: Publisher, Year.

•  The first step starts with the second name of the author. Then, give a comma and write down the name of the author.
• After that, write the name of the article within the quotation marks.
• Use the capital letter in all words in the essay title except the prepositions and the articles.
• Then, end the sentence.
• After ending the sentence, now is the time to write the title and the editor of the larger work.
• You have to mention the larger works page numbers for the essay.
• Then, write down the publication information of the larger works, including the name and the year.
• The Chicago-style citations have many going in the footnote, so just adjust the formatting for the footnote.

Cite Your Essay with Acceptable Practice

The key to a citation is to locate the complete reference. Citation may vary in style and format depending on your paper’s clarity and brevity. Therefore, source your references based on your needs. 

It is not just about how to cite an essay but also about why you should cite it and what the perks are. So, do an acceptable practice, start to mention the reference article, and publish good quality writing.

FAQs

Additional Reading:

• 10 Essay Writing Tips From Experts
• How to Title an Essay: A Step by Step Guide
• Best College Essay Writing Tips for Beginners