One commonly used set of guidelines for citing references in a research paper is the Modern Language Association (MLA) documentation system. Citing sources not only gives your paper credibility, it also helps you avoid unintentional plagiarism by providing you with a system to identify the source of writings and ideas that you found while doing your research.
The MLA system consists of a citation in the text of your paper, typically noting the author and the page number of your source, and a Works Cited page that provides complete publication information.
For more information, try Purdue's Online Writing Guide for MLA Style.
APA Style is a set of guidelines developed by the American Psychological Association for citing resources in the social sciences.
The APA system consists of a citation within your paper, noting the author and the year (usually the copyright year) of your source (page numbers are also included for direct quotations) and a References page with complete publication information.
For more information, try Purdue's Online Writing Lab for APA Style or APA's Frequently Asked Questions.
All of the databases available at the Allen Library offer easy copy and paste citations. Once you have selected a source just look for the cite link, often found in the tool box or at the bottom of the page. Here you will find various citation methods that you can copy and paste onto your bibliography or works cited page.
Finding Citations on Databases