Cite Your Sources
Harvard Guide to Using SourcesIntroduces you to the fundamentals of using sources in academic papers. You will be expected to understand these fundamentals as you write papers at Harvard.
Choose a style and stick with it. Below are two different styles you may choose between. Take the time to read your style manual. In addition to telling you how to format citations, these guides offer tips on how to balance concision with clarity, how to format a date for adjectival use, when to use the singular they, and much more.
- MLA
- you need both the online MLA Style Center and the print book (MLA Handbook, 8th edition)
- Chicago
Using citation management software like Zotero is not required, but it can make formatting your citations a lot easier. If you'd like to use Zotero, follow the Harvard-specific installation steps on Zotero: Getting Started
- We recommend Zotero because it's free, open-source, and easy to use. Learn more about what it can do at zotero.org.
- Explore alternative tools on Citation and Research Management Tools at Harvard.