Helpful Resources for Style Guides (APA, MLA, Chicago, and More!)
There are great online resources that can help you edit a document to follow a style guide's various and often nitpicky rules. Bear in mind that style guides are living documents, so if you see that a style guide has been updated recently, it's worth taking some time to review the changes to make sure you’re in the know. It's also best practice to check the date of any style guide resource you find online so you don't use outdated information accidentally!
We try to keep you aware of style guide changes via the Editor Update and by ensuring that this list of resources is accurate.
APA (most recent version: APA 7, fall 2019)
- APA Style Blog: Style and Grammar Guidelines - The tables at the bottom of this page link you to all the most useful APA Style Blog articles for all your formatting and referencing needs. You can also use the blog’s search tool to quickly find specific guidance.
- Purdue OWL APA Style Guide - Find specific rules of APA style by navigating the left-side menu.
MLA (most recent version: MLA 9, April 2021)
- MLA Style Center - The MLA isn’t as robust with their free style content, but the “Citing Sources” dropdown at the top is helpful.
- Purdue OWL MLA Style Guide - Find specific rules of MLA style by navigating the left-side menu.
Chicago (most recent version: 17th edition, 2017)
- Chicago Manual of Style Quick Guide - This source provides basic guidance for both "notes and bibliography" citations as well as "author-date" citations.
- Purdue OWL Chicago Style Guide - Find specific rules of Chicago style by navigating the left-side menu.
- You may wish to subscribe to the official and always updated CMoS.
AP (Associated Press) (most recent version: 56th edition)
Harvard
Note: Harvard style guides can differ quite drastically from university to university. If you notice that a student attends a particular university (often mentioned on the cover page of a document), it's not a bad idea to see if the university's library has a guide on its website -- this is often the best source for that particular student.
Most importantly, treat the references consistently throughout the document, and consider linking the student to the particular guide that you used. Here are a few good ones:
- Cite Them Right via The Open University (This is a great general Harvard resource to use if the writer doesn't specify.)
- Anglia Ruskin Harvard Referencing Guide
- Imperial College London, Citing and Referencing: Harvard Style
- Leeds Harvard Guide
Bluebook (most recent version: 20th edition, 2020)
The Bluebook style guide is used in the American legal profession for citation of all relevant sources.
- Bluebook Citation Guide
- Purdue OWL Bluebook Citation Guide
- Here's another legal citation resource that's also pretty comprehensive: Cornell Law School
OSCOLA (most recent version: 4th edition, 2012)
Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA) is another legal citation guide.
Vancouver
Vancouver style is primarily used in medical referencing journals which often have individual formatting styles; therefore, Vancouver covers specifics regarding in-text citation and the references page.
- This Wiki guide has detailed information about formatting Vancouver style references. It also links to the U.S. National Library of Medicine's guidelines on Vancouver referencing, which is considered the most authoritative source on this style guide since no official manual exists. NLM's page has examples and information for over 40 different source types.
Other strong guides for this style:
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers: most recent update, August 2022)
- Style manual for editing references
- IEEE Editorial Style Manual for Authors
- Abbreviations for Transaction Letters, Journals and Magazines
- Standard abbreviations used in IEEE referencing list
Society for American Archaeology (SAA) & American Antiquities
AGLC (most recent edition: 4th edition, November 2017)
SBTS (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) Style Guide
- http://digital.library.sbts.edu/handle/10392/4041 (can download guide from the library website)
GCU (Grand Canyon University) Style Guide
A basic version of MLA and APA blended together, with an MLA-style header and APA-style citations/references
This is a pretty expansive list that covers the most common and more obscure guides we encounter. However, an internet search will usually yield valuable resources for anything you need. If you stumble across a great resource that you would like to see added to this list, drop us a line in Slack!