Citations

MyBib can help with both parts of your citations. It creates the full entry for your Works Cited page (MLA) or References/Bibliography (APA or Chicago), and it also shows you the correct in-text citation to use. This saves you from having to figure out the format yourself.

Remember though, online citation makers are not always perfect. Always double-check your citations against the style guide you are using at school to make sure things like capitalization, dates, and page numbers are correct.

General Principles

• Every in-text citation must connect to a full citation in your Works Cited (MLA), References (APA), or Bibliography (Chicago).

• Full citations give readers all the information they need to locate the source themselves.

• Choose one citation style (MLA, APA, or Chicago) and use it consistently throughout your Extended Essay.

• Include all sources you consulted, even if you only paraphrased or summarized.

• List entries in alphabetical order by author’s last name (or by title if no author is given).

• Use a hanging indent: the first line of each entry is flush left, and the following lines are indented.

• Make sure every detail is accurate (author, date, publisher, page numbers, DOI, or URL).
  
  

MLA Style (Works Cited)

General Format: Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Book:
Smith, John. The Art of Light. Oxford University Press, 2019.

Journal Article:
Lee, Maria. “Impressionism and Modernity.” Journal of Art Studies, vol. 12, no. 3, 2020, pp. 45–60.

Website:
Johnson, Alex. “Cubism: A New Perspective.” Art History Online, 2021, www.arthistoryonline.org/cubism.

Special Cases

Two authors

• MLA: Smith, John, and Maria Lee. Art in Context. Routledge, 2020.

• APA: Smith, J., & Lee, M. (2020). Art in context. Routledge.

• Chicago: Smith, John, and Maria Lee. 2020. Art in Context. London: Routledge.

Three or more authors

• MLA: Smith, John, et al. Global Art History. Pearson, 2021.

• APA: Smith, J., Lee, M., & Gonzalez, R. (2021). Global art history. Pearson.

• Chicago: Smith, John, Maria Lee, and Rafael Gonzalez. 2021. Global Art History. Boston: Pearson.

No author

• MLA: History of Art in Europe. Cambridge University Press, 2018.

• APA: History of art in Europe. (2018). Cambridge University Press.

• Chicago: History of Art in Europe. 2018. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  
  

Quick Tips

• Be consistent with punctuation, italics, and capitalization.

• Use italics for books, journals, and websites; use quotation marks for article titles (MLA and Chicago).

• For online sources, always include the URL or DOI.

• Double-check dates, authors, and page ranges before submitting.

• Proofread your list: examiners will notice sloppy or incomplete citations.

General Principles

• Every time you use someone else’s words, ideas, or data, you must include an in-text citation.

• An in-text citation is a short reference placed inside your essay, directly after the information or quote.

• The in-text citation must connect to a full reference entry in your Works Cited (MLA), References (APA), or Bibliography (Chicago).

• Use in-text citations for:

  • Direct quotations (when you copy the author’s exact words).

  • Paraphrasing (when you put the author’s ideas into your own words).

  • Summarizing (when you explain the main point of a source briefly).

  • Data, charts, or statistics that are not common knowledge.

• Avoid long blocks of text without citations. Even if you paraphrase, you must give credit.

• Be consistent: choose one citation style (MLA, APA, or Chicago) and use it throughout your essay.

MLA Style (commonly used)

Format: (Author Last Name Page Number)

Example (book): Impressionist painters often worked outdoors to capture natural light (Smith 45).
Example (no page numbers, online article): This technique is seen as a precursor to Cubism (Johnson).
If author is already in the sentence: According to Smith, Impressionist painters often worked outdoors (45).

Quick Tips

• Stay consistent with one style for the whole essay (I suggest MLA)

• If several sentences in a row come from the same source, one citation at the end of the section is enough.

• Use block quotations for long quotes (MLA: 4+ lines, APA: 40+ words) and put the citation after the block.

• Every in-text citation must have a matching entry in your final Works Cited, References, or Bibliography list.