Citation in research papers is one of the basic requirements to prepare a quality research paper. This not only provides authorization for your own research but saves from the crime of plagiarism. Most of the times a research paper ends up plagiarized by not citing the sources properly. Most of the times research paper writers forget to cite the source details at the time of developing it and they find it difficult later to identify the sources. Most research paper writing styles requires you to cite quotations, paraphrases, summaries and other materials sourced. These guide lines apply to information sourced online too. Citations in research papers are guide lined for different styles like Modern Language association (MLA), American psychological association (APA), Chicago manual of style, Turabian foot notes, Citation sequence and Name year styles.

In case of MLA style, a research paper writer should use the name of the author if they quote his work in a parenthesis or in a signal phrase. If there are two authors, both names should be quoted. If it’s a corporate author, for example if it is the work of an organization or an association, the writer must use its name. When situations like two or more quotes from the same author, one can use his name twice. Bible passage should be given the page number with the name of the section. When you cite a secondary source of quotation, mention that as quoted in the work you refer to. When you quote a webpage, provide all available information related to the author, work and page number.

In case of APA style, the research paper writer must use the name of the author, the publishing year and page number. When a single author is quoted, use the author’s last name followed by a comma and the year of publication. It can also be the name of the author and the year of publication in the sentence and the page number can be given at the end of the paragraph.

The APA style requires a writer to provide complete references of all citations in the bibliography page. If it is a work by multiple authors, one needs to list only the last names of all the authors followed by the year of publication. When there are more than six authors, a research paper writer just need to use et al after the name of the first author. There could be primary authors with the same last name, in such cases ensure to include the first author’s initial with all citations.
Email messages should be referred as personal communication after the author’s last name and the date has to follow. Webpage should also provide the publication year and information on author along with page numbers if available.

Chicago style of citation presents types of citation, one requires the research paper writer to use notes and bibliographies while the later uses author-date format. There is no specific condition that you must use one over the other as it depends on the writer, subject and ease of use. While bibliographies are commonly used for humanities related subjects include literature, history and arts, the author-date citation style is used for science related subjects like life sciences, social sciences and other core science branches. In author-date system, the author’s last name and date of publication are used in the body which is explained in the references.

The Turabian style of citation is essentially the same as that of Chicago style of citation with slight modifications for student writers.

While websites are most commonly used for references these days, it would be ideal to use the URL and the access date. You may provide additional information in case of referencing to a website.