Example of a Citation: Real Formatted Samples in Every Style
Example Of Citation: An APA example is Grady, J. S., et al. (2019). Emotions in storybooks. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(3), 207–217. Every citation names the author, date, title, and source so readers can find it.
What does an example of a citation look like?
A citation is a short, structured record of a source. It always identifies who created the work, when, its title, and where to find it. The exact order and punctuation change with the style, but the same four facts appear every time.
APA 7Grady, J. S., Her, M., Moreno, G., Perez, C., & Yelinek, J. (2019). Emotions in storybooks: A comparison of storybooks that represent ethnic and racial groups in the United States. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(3), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000185
MLA 9Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. Little, Brown and Company, 2008.
What are the parts of a citation?
Most citations break into five colour-coded parts: author, date, title, source, and locator (a DOI or URL). Learn to spot these parts and you can read or build a reference in any style, because every system simply reorders the same elements.
- Author — every named creator, surname first, in the order listed on the work.
- Title — the article or chapter title; sentence case in APA, no italics for articles.
- Source — the container: journal name (italic), volume, issue, and page range.
- Date — the year of publication, in parentheses right after the author.
- DOI/URL — the digital locator that points a reader straight to the source.
What is an example of a citation in each style?
The four dominant systems format the same book differently. APA and Harvard put the year up front, MLA ends with it, and Chicago’s bibliography adds the place of publication. Compare the identical source below.
| Style | Reference-list example (same book) |
|---|---|
| APA 7 | Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The story of success. Little, Brown and Company. |
| MLA 9 | Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. Little, Brown and Company, 2008. |
| Chicago 18 (bibliography) | Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008. |
| Harvard | Gladwell, M. (2008) Outliers: The Story of Success. London: Little, Brown. |
Notice the shared DNA: author, year, title, publisher. APA lowercases the subtitle, MLA uses title case, and Chicago and Harvard prepend the city. None of these is “more correct”—your instructor or journal picks the style.
What is an example of an in-text citation?
An in-text citation is the short pointer inside your sentence that links to the full reference. APA and Harvard use author-date, MLA uses author-page, and Chicago’s notes system uses a superscript footnote number. Each example below cites the Gladwell book.
| Style | Parenthetical | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| APA 7 | (Gladwell, 2008, p. 45) | Gladwell (2008) argued… |
| MLA 9 | (Gladwell 45) | Gladwell explains… (45). |
| Harvard | (Gladwell, 2008, p. 45) | Gladwell (2008, p. 45) shows… |
| Chicago (notes) | Superscript¹ → footnote | Gladwell notes¹… |
For three or more authors, APA and MLA both shorten to the first author plus “et al.”: (Grady et al., 2019) in APA and (Grady et al. 210) in MLA. The in-text tag always matches the first element of the full reference.
What are examples of citations for different sources?
Source type changes which container elements appear. A website adds a URL and access context, a journal adds a DOI, and a chapter adds editors and page numbers. These APA 7 examples show the range.
WebsiteKaur, R. (2021, March 8). How to spot misinformation online. Poynter Institute. https://www.poynter.org/how-to-spot-misinformation
Book chapterNguyen, T. H., & Osei, A. (2020). Climate policy in coastal cities. In R. Fernandez (Ed.), Urban resilience (pp. 112–138). Routledge.
Journal (DOI)Grady, J. S., Her, M., Moreno, G., Perez, C., & Yelinek, J. (2019). Emotions in storybooks. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(3), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000185
NewspaperRoberts, S. (2020, April 9). Early treatment for coronavirus may prove elusive. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/health/coronavirus-treatment.html
Here are the same source types rendered in MLA 9, which reorders the elements and drops the DOI prefix in favour of a bare “https” or DOI string.
MLA websiteKaur, Rupi. “How to Spot Misinformation Online.” Poynter Institute, 8 Mar. 2021, www.poynter.org/how-to-spot-misinformation.
MLA journalGrady, Jessica S., et al. “Emotions in Storybooks.” Psychology of Popular Media Culture, vol. 8, no. 3, 2019, pp. 207–217.
How accurate are these examples, and what are the limits?
Every example follows the official current edition of its style, but real sources introduce edge cases these samples cannot cover. Missing dates, corporate authors, multiple works by one author, and translated titles all trigger extra rules. Treat these as templates, not universal answers.
- Editions change. APA 7 replaced 6, and MLA 9 refined 8; older guides online still show outdated punctuation and the “n.p.” conventions MLA dropped.
- Discipline overrides. A journal or professor may impose house rules—UK vs. US spelling of the publisher city, or “&” vs. “and”—that beat the generic style manual.
- DOIs are preferred. When a DOI exists, cite it instead of a URL in APA and MLA; a stable DOI outlives a moving web address.
- Verify author order. Names go in the order the work lists them, never alphabetically within a single citation.
When a case falls outside these patterns, check the official manual or run the source through a generator that encodes the current edition rules.
Example of a citation: FAQ
What is the simplest example of a citation?
The simplest is a single-author book in APA: Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The story of success. Little, Brown and Company. It contains an author, year, title, and publisher—the four facts every citation needs.
What is the difference between a citation and a reference?
A citation is the brief in-text pointer, such as (Gladwell, 2008, p. 45), while a reference is the full entry in your bibliography. The in-text citation always matches the first word of its reference so readers can connect them.
Can you show an example of an APA and MLA citation side by side?
Yes. APA: Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The story of success. Little, Brown and Company. MLA: Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. Little, Brown and Company, 2008. APA leads with the year; MLA ends with it.
What does an in-text citation example look like?
In APA, an in-text citation looks like (Gladwell, 2008, p. 45); in MLA it is (Gladwell 45). Both point to the fuller reference entry and appear right after the borrowed idea or quotation.
How do I cite a source with no author?
Move the title into the author position. APA example: Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (11th ed.). (2020). Merriam-Webster. In text, use a shortened title in quotation marks or italics instead of a surname.
Which citation style should I use?
Use the style your assignment or journal requires: APA for psychology and the sciences, MLA for the humanities, Chicago for history, and Harvard in many UK courses. When unsure, ask your instructor before formatting.