Q. What citation format should I use for my _____________ paper?

The short answer is to use whichever style or format (such as MLA or APA) your professor wants you to use. 

Usually you can find which one to use for a specific course in the syllabus for that course, or in separate instructions for the research paper or project for that course, or the rubric for grading it. You can also ask the instructor. 

These styles are standardized ways to format papers and cite references. The most common ones we use at Berkeley College are APA & MLA. 

APA (7th edition) - The APA Style was developed by the American Psychological Association as a guideline for writing research papers. It is mostly used for courses in science, health, psychology and the social sciences (such as business, economics, sociology, political science). The current 7th edition (2019) is used in many courses at Berkeley College. 

MLA (8th edition) - The MLA Style is a guideline developed by the Modern Language Association, mostly used in English and writing classes, and in the Humanities (such as literature, history, philosophy, art, music). The current 8th edition (2016) is meant to be simpler and more streamlined than earlier formats. 

For an article or book in our online library databases, you can often get the citation automatically formatted as either APA or MLA. Just make sure you copy the reference that it is in the correct style that your instructor wants and then paste it onto your Works Cited or References page.

There is a lot of information about APA & MLA citations  from the Center for Academic Success (CAS) here: https://berkeleycollege.libguides.com/writing