Citing Sources: Quick Citation Generators

Did you know that many of the databases, catalogs, and even popular web sites you use for research incorporate quick citation tools to make your life easier? Links may be labelled variously Cite (EBSCO and ProQuest databases, Google Scholar), Cite/Export (UW WorldCat), Citation Tools (Gale databases), or Cite this page (Wikipedia), but they all offer quick cut-and-paste citations in the most common formats. Below are three examples of these "Quick Cite" tools.

Best practice is to always check over and correct the data from quick citation tools, since individual citations often have small omissions or formatting errors.

You can get a citation for an individual item in the new UW Libraries Search in MLA, APA, or Chicago/Turabian formats.

• Click on "Share/Save" in the right-hand corner of the record.
• In the drop-down that appears, click on "Citation."

• A window will pop up with the citation (see below). Choose a citation style by clicking on the left-hand side, then copy the citation and paste it into your bibliography.

In EBSCO databases like Academic Search Complete, Historical Abstracts, and PsycINFO, the Cite button provides citations in 7 styles:

Google Scholar provides a Cite feature too, with citations in MLA, APA, and Chicago N&B:

Note: Best practice is to always check over and correct the data from quick citation tools, since individual citations often have small formatting errors.