What Citation Style Should I Use?
Papers written for Religious Studies courses can use a variety of citation styles depending on the subject of the paper, the writer's objective, or simply preference for one form of citation over another. The most common citation styles used in Religious Studies courses are MLA, Chicago, and APA. Check your syllabus or talk to your professor to find out if they have a specific style they want you to use.
- MLA style (Modern Language Association) has guidelines for manuscript formatting and citing research where sources are referenced via parenthetical citation and works cited pages.
- Chicago style (Chicago Manual of Style) is most often used for citing documents and has specific rules for papers written in both the humanities and social/sciences. It uses a Notes-Bibliography System that includes having footnotes throughout the paper.
- APA style (American Psychological Association) is generally used for papers written in the social sciences. This style is formatted into four basic sections: the title page, abstract, main body, and references.
