Learning Outcomes for this Module

• LO1: Define important concepts such as: authority, peer review, bias, point of view, editorial process, purpose, audience, information privilege and more.  
• LO5: Cite information sources accurately and discuss why we cite. 

Tools

What You’ll Need	What We Used
Forum for discussion	Padlet
A tool to create a self-quiz	Microsoft Forms
A place for students to submit/share their answers to the activity	Blog posts on our WordPress-based course site

How to Credit Us

Except where otherwise noted, the lesson plans on this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. 

To credit us for this module/lesson plan, cite the following: 

Newman, J., Ward, S.K.L. (2025, June 9). Citation module. LIBR 100 OER. https://lib100oer.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2025/06/09/citation/

Xkcd. “Wikipedian Protester.” xkcd webcomic

Module Introduction

This module covers citation: what it is, why we do it, and how to check citations for completeness and correctness. We will be working with 2 of the most common citation styles, APA (American Psychological Association) style and MLA (Modern Language Association) style. 

There are several other citation styles, like Chicago, AMA, and ASA, and we can’t cover them all in this course. In this module, you will practice reading MLA and APA citations and consulting citation style guides to check for errors in citations. These are skills that will be useful no matter what citation style you need to use in the future.

Please note: a link on its own is NOT a citation. Links go bad all the time; a citation gives you all the information you need to find a source, even if the link is broken.

This module consists of:

1. Two brief videos
2. Discussion question on Padlet (1 point)
3. APA & MLA citation guides
4. Citation quiz (6 points)
5. Find and correct a citation blog post (2 points)
6. “One thing I learned” Padlet post (1 point)

Part 1: Two Brief Videos

Please watch the following 1-2 minute videos. The first, from Clemson University Libraries, discusses the concept of the “scholarly conversation.” The second, from North Carolina State University Libraries, discusses why we cite.

“Joining the (Scholarly) Conversation” video

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“Citation: A (Very) Brief Introduction” video

Part 2: Discussion Questions (1 point)

Below is a list of reasons we cite our sources. Create a Padlet post telling us which of these reason(s) you think is/are the most important and why.

• To help your reader find the sources you mention
• To place your work in the context of a larger conversation
• To give credit to others for their work and ideas
• To raise awareness of sources you think are interesting or important
• To avoid plagiarism
• To bolster the credibility of your own arguments
• To help your reader verify information or claims in your work
• To leave a trail for other researchers
• Another reason?

As always, be sure to include your name so we can give you credit.

Link to Part 2 Padlet

Part 3: Review sample APA and MLA format citations

Video

Watch the following video from Santiago Canyon College which breaks down how to format a citation for a journal article according to MLA style. [This video refers to the older 8th edition of MLA, but the rules in the current edition (9th) are the same for journal article citations.]

Next, review the following citation examples from Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab, also known as Purdue OWL. Take note of what pieces of information are required in citations for different source types. You don’t need to memorize all this: you will refer back to these pages as you work on the citation quiz in this module. The Purdue OWL site is a great place to find general writing resources and guides to research and citation.

MLA format, 9th edition (full MLA citation guide)

• Articles in periodicals (“Periodicals” means anything published at regular intervals. Examples of periodicals are newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals.)
• Books (scroll down to “A Work in an Anthology, Reference, or Collection” to see how to cite a chapter from a book)
• Electronic sources, including websites, images, emails, YouTube videos, articles from periodicals that you access through online databases, etc.

APA format, 7th edition (full APA guide)

• Articles in periodicals (“Periodicals” means anything published at regular intervals. Examples of periodicals are newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals.)
• Books (scroll down to “Article or Chapter in an Edited Book” to see how to cite a chapter from a book)
• Electronic sources, including web pages, online journal articles, data sets, etc.

Notice that the general difference between citing a print source and an electronic source is that when citing an electronic source you include information about where you accessed it, including

• either a URL (check the database for a “permalink” or “stable URL”) or a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) for the source. APA style prefers a DOI over a URL when available
• the name of the database or website where you accessed the source, if applicable (This is required in MLA style only. The database used is not included in an APA style citation)

In MLA format, you are not required to list the date you accessed the online source, unless the source has no publication date or you think the source was changed or removed since the date you accessed it. Similarly, in APA format you are only required to include a date of access for sources that may change over time, like a website or a wiki, but not for an ebook or journal article, because those generally do not change once published.

Part 4: Citation Quiz (6 points)

This quiz consists of 20 multiple choice and short answer questions. 

You will be asked to identify source types, to identify various components of APA and MLA citations, and to identify errors in APA and MLA citations.

The learning objectives of this exercise are as follows:

• read and understand APA and MLA citations
• compare citations to APA and MLA style guidelines, checking for completeness and correctness

Refer back to the resources in Module 2.3 if you need help.

Once you have answered all the questions, you may click “view results” to see the correct responses to the multiple-choice questions. 

You will earn 6 points for completing this quiz.

Link to citation quiz

Part 5: Find and correct a citation (2 points)

Using OneSearch, the main search box on the Hunter College Libraries website, search for any topic you want. Choose one source from your set of search results and use the “citation” tool in OneSearch to generate a citation in either APA or MLA format. You may choose any type of source (book, news article, journal article, etc.)

Create a blog post on our site that includes the following:

1. Which style you chose: APA or MLA
2. What type of source you chose
3. Copy/paste the OneSearch-generated citation without making any changes
4. Identify what is wrong with or missing from the citation (if anything)
5. Your corrected version of the citation

Part 6 “One Thing I Learned” Padlet Post (1 point)

Create a brief post describing one thing you learned in this module about citation, and one thing that you still have questions about.

Link to Part 6 Padlet