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In Word, you can easily add citations when writing a document where you need to cite your sources, such as a research paper. Citations can be added in various formats, including APA, Chicago-style, GOST, IEEE, ISO 690, and MLA. Afterwards, you can create a bibliography of the sources you used to write your paper.
To add a citation to your document, you first add the source that you used.
Add a new citation and source to a document
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On the References tab, in the Citations & Bibliography group, click the arrow next to Style and click the style that you want to use for the citation and source. For example, social sciences documents usually use the MLA or APA styles for citations and sources.
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Click at the end of the sentence or phrase that you want to cite.
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On the Reference tab, click Insert Citation and then do one of the following:
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To add the source information, click Add New Source, and then, in the Create Source dialog box, click the arrow next to Type of Source, and select the type of source you want to use (for example, a book section or a website).
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To add a placeholder, so that you can create a citation and fill in the source information later, click Add New Placeholder. A question mark appears next to placeholder sources in Source Manager.
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If you chose to add a source, enter the details for the source. To add more information about a source, click the Show All Bibliography Fields check box.
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Click OK when finished. The source is added as a citation at the place you selected in your document.
When you’ve completed these steps, the citation is added to the list of available citations. The next time you quote this reference, you don’t have to type it all out again. You just add the citation to your document. After you’ve added a source, you may find you need to make changes to it at a later time. To do this, see Edit a source.
Notes:
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If you’ve added a placeholder and want to replace it with citation information, see Edit a source.
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If you choose a GOST or ISO 690 style for your sources and a citation is not unique, append an alphabetic character to the year. For example, a citation would appear as [Pasteur, 1848a].
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If you choose ISO 690-Numerical Reference and your citations still don’t appear consecutively, you must click the ISO 690 style again, and then press ENTER to correctly order the citations.
Add citations to your document
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Click at the end of the sentence or phrase that you want to cite, and then on the References tab, in the Citations & Bibliography group, click Insert Citations.
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From the list of citations under Insert Citation, select the citation you want to use.
Find a source
The list of sources that you use can become quite long. At times, you might need to search for a source that you cited in another document.
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On the References tab, in the Citations & Bibliography group, click Manage Sources.
If you open a new document that does not yet contain citations, all of the sources that you used in previous documents appear under Master List.
If you open a document that includes citations, the sources for those citations appear under Current List. All the sources that you have cited, either in previous documents or in the current document, appear under Master List.
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To find a specific source, do one of the following:
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In the sorting box, sort by author, title, citation tag name, or year, and then look for the source that you want in the resulting list.
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In the Search box, type the title or author for the source that you want to find. The list dynamically narrows to match your search term.
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Note: You can click the Browse button in Source Manager to select another master list from which you can import new sources into your document. For example, you might connect to a file on a shared server, on a research colleague’s computer or server, or on a Web site that is hosted by a university or research institution.
Edit a source
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On the References tab, in the Citations & Bibliography group, click Manage Sources.
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In the Source Manager dialog box, under Master List or Current List, select the source you want to edit, and then click Edit.
Note: To edit a placeholder to add citation information, select the placeholder from Current List and click Edit.
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In the Edit Source dialog box, make the changes you want and click OK.
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Microsoft Word has many automatic features that can help you write a report or academic paper. Among these, you can keep a list of sources and citations to automatically generate a bibliography (also called a «Reference List» or «Works Cited») at the end of your paper. If you need footnotes or endnotes, Word has features that can help you format those as well.
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Choose a citation style on the «References» tab. When you click on the «References» tab, you’ll see the word «Style» next to a drop-down menu. If you click on the drop-down menu, you can select the citation style you want to use for your references.
- Make sure the edition is the same as the one you need to use. Word typically offers the most recent edition of each style, but if you have an older version of Word you may need to upgrade. If you have a subscription version, simply download the latest update.[1]
- Make sure the edition is the same as the one you need to use. Word typically offers the most recent edition of each style, but if you have an older version of Word you may need to upgrade. If you have a subscription version, simply download the latest update.[1]
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Click «Add New Source» to enter information about a source. On the «References» tab, click the «Insert Citation» button in the «Citations and Bibliography» group. Any sources you’ve already entered will appear in a drop-down. Select «Add New Source» if the source you want to cite isn’t already listed.
- A dialogue box will appear with the necessary fields for the citation, including spaces for the author, title, year of publication, city, and publisher. Enter all the information you have for your source, then click «OK.»
- If you have additional information about the source that doesn’t fit into any of these basic fields, check the box next to «Show All Bibliography Fields.»
Tip: If you don’t have all the information for the source, or if you don’t want to interrupt your train of thought to add a new source, you can click «Add New Placeholder» instead. This alerts you that you need to add a citation there.
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Continue to insert citations as you write your paper. Set the cursor at the end of a sentence where you need a citation. Go back up to the «References» tab and click on «Insert Citation» to bring up the list of sources. Click on the source you want to cite, and Word will automatically generate an in-text citation in the style you’ve chosen.
- To edit an individual citation, such as if you wanted to add a page number for a direct quote, right-click the citation for citation options and click «Edit Citation.»[2]
- To edit an individual citation, such as if you wanted to add a page number for a direct quote, right-click the citation for citation options and click «Edit Citation.»[2]
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Use the «Manage Sources» button to edit or delete sources. Particularly if you have a long paper with a lot of sources, you may find as you go that you have some duplicated sources or some that you no longer need to use. You can add, delete, or edit sources using the «Manage Sources» button in the «Citations & Bibliography» group under the «References» tab.
- Choose the source you want to edit from your master list. As you edit, you’ll see a preview of the final citation in the lower box.
- If you inserted placeholders while you were writing, you can also use this menu to add information for those sources.
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Select the footnote or endnote option on the «References» tab. Set your cursor where you want the footnote or endnote number in your text. Typically this will be at the end of a sentence, but it may be after a signal phrase or author’s name. Go up to the «References» tab and click «Insert Footnote» or «Insert Endnote.»[3]
- Word will automatically create a superscripted number in your text and move the cursor to the footnote or endnote field.
Keyboard shortcuts:
Insert Footnote: Alt+Ctrl+F (PC); Command+Option+F (Mac)
Insert Endnote: Alt+Ctrl+D (PC); Command+Option+E (Mac) -
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Use the «Expand» icon to adjust footnote or endnote settings. You can use sequential numbers, letters, or other symbols to mark your footnotes or endnotes. You can also specify what number or letter you want them to start from.[4]
- By default, footnotes or endnotes will continue sequential numbering throughout your document. If you want the numbers to restart at the beginning of each new section or chapter, you can specify this in the settings.
If you need to convert footnotes to endnotes, click on the «Insert» menu, then «Footnote,» then «Options.» Select «Convert» from the menu, then click on «Endnotes.»
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Type your footnote or endnote into your document. You can enter your citation by hand, or you can use the «Insert Citation» tool to add a citation in your footnote or endnote. Choose your source from the drop-down or add a new source if you want to cite a source that you haven’t entered yet.[5]
- You can also use the «Placeholder» tool if you don’t yet have all the information for the source and need to add it in later.
- Check the formatting against your style guide to make sure it’s correct before you continue.
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Double-click the footnote number to go back to the document. When you’re ready to go back up to where you left off and start writing again, double-click the number or other symbol at the beginning of the footnote. It will send the cursor back to the end of the text.[6]
- Similarly, you can double-click a superscripted footnote number in the text to check that footnote, edit, or add to it. While you can also simply scroll down the page, this is a quicker way to get there.
To delete a footnote or endnote, highlight the footnote or endnote number in your text and press the delete key. Word will automatically renumber your other footnotes or endnotes to accommodate for the deletion.
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Choose the format for your bibliography. Word automatically builds your bibliography for you as you enter your sources. Select «Bibliography» fro the «References» tab, then choose the type of bibliography you want from the drop-down.[7]
- For example, if you’re writing your paper in MLA style, you would want a «Works Cited» bibliography. Assuming you chose MLA as the style for your source citations, the «Works Cited» format would be the first format option in the «Bibliography» drop-down menu.
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Generate your bibliography with a click. When you find the format you want, simply select it from the drop-down menu and click. Word will automatically create your bibliography at the end of your document.[8]
- The bibliography is considered a separate object from the paper you’re writing, and will automatically start on a new page.
Tip: You don’t have to wait until you’ve finished writing your paper to create your bibliography. Word will auto-populate your bibliography with any new sources you add after the bibliography has been generated.
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Proofread your bibliography carefully. Even though Word has done the hard work of formatting for you, you still need to double-check each entry. Make sure the source is correct and the entry is formatted correctly for the style you’ve chosen.[9]
- For example, if you made a typographical error when entering the information about the source, that error would carry over into your bibliography.
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The steps and information in this article are accurate for Word for Office 365, Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2013, Word 2010, and Word 2007. If you have a different edition of Word, your menu options may differ slightly.[10]
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Managing citations for research papers, theses, dissertations, and other nonfiction works can be overwhelming. However, you can ease the process by learning how to insert citations in Microsoft Word using the software’s citation and bibliography tools.
This tutorial covers six topics:
- How to select a citation style
- How to insert citations for new sources
- How to insert citations for existing sources
- How to edit sources
- How to use citation placeholders
- How to insert bibliographies, reference lists, or works cited lists
Important Note: At the time this tutorial was published, Microsoft Word did not offer the most up-to-date formatting for several of our primary style guides, including APA, Chicago, MLA, and Turabian. Therefore, I encourage you to review the available styles before using the citation and bibliography tools. We will cover the steps to customize citation and bibliography styles in a separate tutorial.
This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.
Watch more than 150 other writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel.
The images below are from Word in Microsoft 365. The steps are the same in Word 2021, Word 2019, and Word 2016. However, your interface may look slightly different in those older versions of the software.
How to Select a Citation Style in Microsoft Word
- Select the References tab in the ribbon.
- Select your citation style from the Style menu in the Citations & Bibliography group.
How to Insert Citations for New Sources in Microsoft Word
- Place your cursor where you want to insert the citation.
- Select the References tab in the ribbon (see figure 1).
- Select the Insert Citation button in the Citations & Bibliography group.
- Select Add New Source from the drop-down menu.
- Select the source type from the Type of Source menu in the Create Source dialog box.
- Enter the source information into the bibliography fields.
- (Optional Step) Select Show All Bibliography Fields if you need to add additional information.
- (Optional Step) Enter the source information into the additional fields.
- Select the OK button.
Your citation should appear in your text.
How to Insert Citations for Existing Sources in Microsoft Word
Once you enter a source, as shown in the section above, you can create additional citations for that source without reentering the information.
- Place your cursor where you want to insert the citation (see figure 3).
- Select the References tab in the ribbon (see figure 1).
- Select the Insert Citation button in the Citations & Bibliography group (see figure 4).
- Select the source from the drop-down menu.
Your citation should appear in your text (see figure 11).
How to Edit Sources in Microsoft Word
When you edit an existing source, you will also edit any existing citations for that source in your current document.
- Select the References tab in the ribbon (see figure 1).
- Select the Manage Sources button in the Citations & Bibliography group.
- Select the source you want to edit in the Master List or the Current List in the Source Manager dialog box.
Pro Tip: The Master List is stored in your computer and is accessible in all your documents. The Current List is part of your current file and is only accessible in that file. By default, Word stores new sources in the Master List and the Current List.
- Select the Edit button.
- Enter your edits in the Edit Source dialog box. (Select Show All Bibliography Fields, if necessary.)
- Select the OK button.
- Select Yes or No in the alert box stating that you will be updating the source in both the Master List and the Current List. (Strongly consider selecting Yes to update both lists if you plan to cite this source in future documents.)
- Select the Close button in the Source Manager dialog box.
How to Use Citation Placeholders in Microsoft Word
You can use placeholders if your source information is not available.
- Place your cursor where you want to insert the citation placeholder.
- Select the References tab in the ribbon (see figure 1).
- Select the Insert Citation button in the Citations & Bibliography group (see figure 4).
- Select Add New Placeholder from the drop-down menu.
- (Optional Step) Change the name of the placeholder in the Placeholder Name dialog box.
- Select the OK button.
Pro Tip: You can use the same placeholder in the future by selecting it from the Insert Citation drop-down menu (see figure 12).
- When you are ready to replace the placeholder with a source, complete the steps in How to Edit Sources above.
How to Insert Bibliographies, Reference Lists, or Works Cited Lists in Microsoft Word
These steps will only work if you inserted your sources using Word’s citation and bibliography tools.
- Place your cursor where you want to insert the bibliography, reference list, or works cited list.
- Select the References tab in the ribbon (see figure 1).
- Select the Bibliography button in the Citations & Bibliography group.
- Select Bibliography, References, or Works Cited from the drop-down menu.
Your bibliography, reference list, or works cited list should appear in your document.
Related Resources
How to Create Hanging Indents in Microsoft Word
How to Insert Footnotes and Endnotes in Microsoft Word
How to Convert Individual Footnotes to Endnotes in Microsoft Word (and Individual Endnotes to Footnotes)
How to Create a Cover Page in Microsoft Word (Built-In and Custom)
Updated August 22, 2022
Adding citations and references is essential for students for their academic projects. Failing to add relevant references can not only lead to a deduction of marks but might even result in the project being rejected by the teacher. Furthermore, it can be difficult to keep up with different types of referencing styles to meet the criteria set by your teachers. Fortunately, Microsoft Word makes it quite easy to add citations and references to your Word documents.
How to Create References in Microsoft Word
The References tab in MS Word provides a comprehensive set of features for adding citations and references. The below guide will help you to add references in your Word documents, using Microsoft Word and older versions.
Step 1: To create a reference, head over to the References tab in MS Word and select a referencing style. By default Microsoft Word provides a variety of referencing styles, including the most commonly used styles like the Chicago and Harvard style of referencing.
Step 2: To add a citation click Insert Citation and select Add New Source.
Step 3: This will open a dialog box where you can select a source type and add relevant details. The available source types include Book, Book Section, Journal Article, Article in a Periodical, Conference Proceedings, Report.
Step 4: Once your reference has been created, go to Insert Citation and select it to add it as an inline reference.
Editing Your Citations and References in Microsoft Word
You can edit your citation anytime by clicking on the inline citation. The available options in the drop down menu will allow you to edit the citation and source, convert the citation to static format, as well as to update citation and bibliography.
You can also manage your added references by going to Manage Sources in the References tab. This section can be used to edit and remove added sources, as well as to copy and add new sources.
Adding Bibliographies to MS Word
In the References section you can use the Bibliography menu to add a Bibliography to your Microsoft Word document.
Adding End Notes to Your Microsoft Word Document
You can add end notes to your MS Word documents via References –> Insert Endnote.
As we could see, adding citations in Microsoft Word is possible with these simple steps. These tips can be helpful for Academic research or when preparing business documents. If you need more help you can learn Microsoft Word and how to accomplish simple tasks to be more productive at work.