Easily Create a Citation

Add a Citation

The addition of a new citation within a document will also create a source that will appear in the bibliography.

  • Select a Style from the drop down arrow from the References tab, within the Citations & Bibliography group. Common types are APA or MLA

Screenshot of a Microsoft Word document. Across the top is a blue banner. In the top left, there is a purple floppy disk icon, a blue curved arrow pointing left with a black triangle pointing down, a blue curved arrow, and a black triangle pointing down with a line. To the right, in the middle of the document, there is text that says Word 2010. Below that, there are menu options across the top. They are File (with a blue background), Home, Insert, Page Layout, References, Mailings, Review, View, Add-Ins, and Acrobat. References is selected. Within the References menu, there are three sections visible. They are Table of Contents, Footnotes, and Citations & Bibliographies. Within the Citations and Bibliographies section, there is a dropdown selected. In the Dropdown, there is text that reads APA Fifth Edition. Below the dropdown menu, the menu options are open. The options listed are APA Fifth Edition (highlighted in yellow), Chicago Fiteenth Edition, GB7714 2005, GOST - Name Sort, GOST - Title Sort, ISO 690 - First Element and Date, ISO 690 - Numerical Reference, MLA Sixth Edition, SIST02, Turabian Sixth Edition.

From the References tab, within the Citations & Bibliography group, click on Insert Citation.


Select from the two choices:

  • Click on Add New Source to add the source information.

  • Click on Add New Placeholder, allowing you to create a citation and fill out the source information later. Within the Source Manager a question mark will appear as a reminder.

Screenshot of Microsoft Word options. Across the top is a gray header. Below that, there are tabs that say References (selected), Mailings, Review, and View. Within the References window, there are further options. To the right, there is text that says Insert Citation (with a black triangle pointing down) and an icon that has a white document with blue lines and an orange squigly line as well as a blue checkmark. The icon and the text have a yellow background. To the right, there are three vertical options. They are Manage Sources. (with three white document icons and a gray bar); Style with a dropdown field to the right that says APA Fifth (and an icon of an open book with a white document on top that has red text); and Bibliography with a black triangle pointing down (and an icon with two spines of books: one purple and one yellow). The Insert Citation button is selected and there are two options in a menu below. They are Add New Source...(with a purple book and a yellow burst icon) and Add New Placeholder (with a white document icon and a red question mark). Add New Source is highlighted in yellow.

Within the Create Source dialog box begin filling the source information by clicking on the arrow next to Type of Source. When all of the information has been filled in click on OK.

To add additional information, place a check in the box next to Show All Bibliography Fields.

Screenshot of a dialog menu box. Across the top, there is a gray bar that goes around the entire menu box. To the top left, there is text that says Create Source. To the top right, there are two boxes. The first has a gray background with a question mark icon. The second has a red background with a white "x" icon. Below that, there is a lighter gray background. The first text reads: Type of Source and has a dropdown field with text that says Book, which is highlighted in blue. Below that, there is text that says Bibliography Fields for APA Fifth Edition. Below that, there is text that reads Author. To the right, there is a white field and to the right of that, there is a gray button that says Edit. Below that, there is a checkmark box (not checked). To the right, there is text that reads Corporate Author. To the right, there is a gray empty field. Below that, there is text and to the right of each piece of text, there is an empty white field. The text is Title, Year, City, and Publisher. Below that, there is a thin gray horiztonal line. Below the line, there is a checkmark box (not checked) with text that says Show All Bibliography Fields. Below that is text that says Tag name. Below that is a white field with text in it that says Placeholder 1. To the bottom right of the menu box, there are two buttons. The first is OK and has a blue outline. The second says Cancel.

Editing a Citation

With the citation selected, click on the down arrow and select Edit Citation. You can add a page number to the citation from the Add Pages section of the Edit Citation dialog box or hide/omit parts of a citation from the Suppress section.

Manage Sources - Find a Source

From the References tab, within the Citations & Bibliography group, click on the Manage Sources command .

  • A Master List will contain all sources you have cited in previous document or the current document.

  • From the Source Manager dialog box, enter the title or author of the source you want to find within the Search box.

    • Edit, Delete, Copy, and New are functions available from the Source Manager dialog box.

    • Remove items from the Current List by clicking on the Delete button.

    • To add missing information to a source, click on the Edit button. * Question Mark indicates more information is need for the source.

Screenshot of Microsoft Word dialog box. Across the top is a blue header. To the left is text that reads Source Manager. To the right are two boxes. The first has a blue background and a question mark icon. The second has a red background and has an "X" icon. Below that is a gray background. There is text that says Search:. To the right, there is a white field. To the right of that is a dropdown field with text that reads Sort by Author. Below, there is text that says Sources available in:. To the right, there is a gray button that says Browse... Below that there are two columns with white fields. The left column has text above the field that says Master List. The field below says McDonough, Michele: Review of WinSnap 3.0 (2009) Test;Test 2 (2007) Wikipedia; Screen Shot. To the right, the text above the white field says Current List. In the white field, there is text that says McDonough, Michele: Review of WinSnap 3.0 (2009) Test;Test 2 (2007) Wikipedia; Screen Shot. In between the fields, there are four buttons. They are <-Copy, Delete, Edit..., and New... Below the Current List field, there are two pieces of text. They are: cited source (with a black checkmark icon) and placeholder source (a black question mark icon). Below that, there is a thin, black horiztonal line. Below that is text that says Preview (APA):. Below that is a white field with a scroll bar to the right that has a triangle pointing up at the top, a gray bar pulled all the way to the top, and a triangle pointing down at the bottom right of the field. Within the field, there is text that says Citation: (Test, 2007). There is a line break and more text that says Bibliography Entry: (line break) Test. (2007). Test 2. Below the white field, in the bottom right, there is a gray button that says Close.
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