In a job, there are many places where you can cite portable digital files (PDF). PDFs can contain anything that has been saved in that format. Cartoons, haikus, government documents, multi-volume volumes… all of this can be saved as PDF. If you have to create an academic text, you will probably have to come in contact with magazine articles or electronic books (ebooks) that are in PDF format. That's why this wikiHow article will focus on citing and formatting PDF files from a magazine article or ebook in the three most important citation styles: MLA, APA, and Chicago Manual of Style. In most cases, you won't even have to indicate that you've used a PDF file.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Prepare to Cite Your PDFs
Step 1. Gather all the pertinent information
Both for citations in text lines and for bibliographic citations you will need to know the basic information about its creation.
- Journal Articles: You will need to copy the author's name, article title, journal name, volume number, issue number, publication date, page numbers of the hard copy, and the web address of the journal article.
- Electronic books (ebooks). It would be nice to know the name of the author, the title of the book, the publisher, the place of publication, year of publication, date of access and a website where you can find that ebook. Sometimes physical book publishers outsource e-book production. If this is the case, a different editor will appear for the electronic version of the book. You will need to have information from both editors.
Step 2. Choose the style you want to wear
The most commonly used styles in academic and professional writing are MLA, APA, and Chicago Manual of Style (it is also sometimes referred to as "Turabian" for being the editor of this style manual). Choose the style that is most used in your field or the style that has been declared preferred for your profession or workplace.
- Use MLA if you study literature, arts, or human sciences in general.
- Use APA if you study psychology, education, linguistics, or other social sciences. In general, journalism and communications also use APA often.
- Use the Chicago Manual of Style if you study history, political science, information science, or journalism and communications. Publishing and editing commonly use a Chicago-style form.
- In certain cases, the editor might require a specific citation style that is not commonly used in the field, or it might include a reference to your own organization's style guide. Use the one that is most appropriate for your text.
Step 3. Insert a quote in a line of text right after including the reference to that text
If you want to avoid plagiarism charges, you'd better insert a quote in the body of the text. Your goal is to tell the reader that the information you just presented was obtained from another author. This shows the reader that you are well educated in the existing literature and that you are interested in creating your work from the work of others.
The place where the appointment goes and the type of appointment will depend on the style that you are going to use. Examples of the most important styles are included in this article
Step 4. Format your bibliography correctly
Learn how to format a bibliography or cited page of a work. Depending on the style you decide to stick to, you will need to follow different guidelines. In most of them you will need to order your fonts alphabetically.
Where the section title goes, how you format it, and the spacing of each entry is different depending on whether you're using MLA, APA, or the Chicago Manual of Style
Method 2 of 4: Make your appointments using the MLA style
Step 1. Find the author
To provide a complete MLA citation, you must provide the name of the author of the file and the page number of the reference (where possible). If the author is mentioned in the text, just put the page number in parentheses: According to Spiers, college has become very expensive (48). Otherwise, use parentheses for both the name and the page number at the end of the sentence or quote: Some argue that college has become too expensive (Spiers 48).
- If there are two authors, list both last names in parentheses with the word "and" in the middle, followed by the page number: Dogs have evolved along with humans (Draper and Simpson 68).
- If there are more than two authors, use commas to separate their last names and write the page number below: Embroidery should be considered a "delicate art form" (Kozinsky, King, and Chappell 56).
- If the author is not mentioned, use the name of the institution: Dinosaurs became extinct millions of years ago (Smithsonian Institution 21).
- If no institution is given credit, simply start the citation with the title of the work: According to experts, energy drinks should not be consumed in excess ("Impact of Caffeine Consumption" 102).
- Quotations in lines of text should not indicate whether the source is in PDF format or not.
- In all these scenarios, the quotes in parentheses come before the final punctuation of the sentence.
Step 2. Look up the page numbers
Some e-books and PDF files have fixed page numbers and these do not change depending on the display. If your document has fixed page numbers, use them. If there are no page numbers, don't try to provide them. You can make your appointments through chapter or section.
- For example, to cite a PDF divided into sections and without page numbers, you can do so by section: According to Blankenship, caffeine consumption should be limited to 200 mg per day (Chapter 2).
- If the PDF or e-book is not divided into identifiable sections, cite the file as a whole and do not specify the page numbers: Blankenship's Caffeine Consumption Study, "Too Jittery, Joe?" suggests that caffeine consumption should be limited to 200 mg per day.
Step 3. PDF citation of e-books in MLA bibliographic format
According to the MLA guidelines, you must indicate the type of electronic file that you have accessed in the case of electronic books. For example "PDF file" or "Kindle file".
- The basic format is: Author's last name, Author's name. "Title of the book". Place of publication: publisher, year of publication. Publisher of the e-book, year of publication of the e-book. Type of file.
- For example: Smith, John. The fantastic novel. London: Great Publishing House, 2010. Google Books, 2011. PDF file. December 1, 2012.
- If your ebook is not a PDF file, please cite the type of file you have. For example: Smith, John. The fantastic novel. London: Great Publishing House, 2010. Kindle File.
Step 4. Cite journal articles in PDF using the MLA bibliographic format
On the citation page of your job, mention newspaper articles that you access through an online database including publication information in the same way that you would a printed article. After this information, you must write the name of the online database where you found that article and the medium (Web), as well as the date you accessed the file.
- The basic format is: Author's last name, Author's name. "Article title". Magazine name volume number. Issue number (publication date): page numbers. Database name. Half. Date of access.
- For example: Doe, Jane. "Interesting article to quote". Information from the specialized publication of the online citation 4.7 (2006): 82-5. Academic Access Premier. Web. November 20, 2012.
Step 5. See if the article comes from a magazine that is published exclusively online
Some academic journals are now only available online and do not provide PDF pagination information. If the PDF is from an online magazine only and does not have page numbers, follow the basic model for your work citation page, but add the words "n. P." instead of including page numbers.
For example: Doe, Jane. "Interesting article to quote". Dating information magazine. Information from the specialized publication of the online citation 4.7 (2006): n. P. Web. November 20, 2012
Method 3 of 4: Make your appointments using the APA style
Step 1. Insert the corresponding APA reference in a line of text
Write the author (last name or first name of the organization) and the year in parentheses separated by a comma. If you took a direct quote from an original text, add "p." and a space before the page number, if the text is a direct quote. If you've already mentioned the author in the declaration, put the year in parentheses next to the name (and put the page number in parentheses at the end of the declaration, if applicable). Place the quote before the end point. If there are two authors in parentheses, separate them with the "and" connector; if there are more, separate them by commas. Here it is not necessary to indicate that the source is in a PDF file.
- Basic example: higher education professionals think that "education is the most powerful weapon that can be used to change the world" (Mandela, 1996, p. 35).
- If your file does not have page numbers and you want to use a direct citation, include the paragraph number: higher education professionals think that "education is the most powerful weapon that can be used to change the world" (Mandela, 1996, para 35).
- You can also use a synthesized heading in the quote: Higher education professionals think that "education is the most powerful weapon that can be used to change the world" (Mandela, 1996, "A Few Words About Education").
Step 2. Correctly APA format PDF of books in your bibliography
If you use APA style you must declare the type of file you have consulted in brackets, for example, [Dataset] or [PowerPoint Slides]. If you are using a proprietary e-book format, such as a Kindle file, you should include this information as well.
- The basic format is: Author's last name, Author's first initial. (Year of publication). "Title of the book" [PDF document]. Available at the web address:
- Basic example: Smith, J. (2011). The fantastic novel [PDF file]. Available at
- For a proprietary file, provide the e-reader version in brackets. Smith, J. (2011). The fantastic novel [Kindle DX file]. Retrieved from
Step 3. Correctly APA format PDF of journal articles in your bibliography
The APA style does not capitalize every word for magazine article titles. This means that you should only capitalize the first word of the title. Don't use quotation marks to highlight titles.
- The basic format is: Author's last name, Author's first initial. (Year of publication). Article title [PDF file]. Journal title, volume number (issue number), page numbers. Obtained from the web address:
- Basic example: Doe, J. (2006). Interesting article to cite [PDF file]. Information from the specialized publication of the online citation 4 (3), 82-5. Obtained at
- Note that the volume number is in italics, but the delivery number (which is in parentheses) is not!
- If your article includes a DOI number, write it at the end of the citation.
Method 4 of 4: Make Your Appointments Using Chicago Manual of Style Standards
Step 1. Use the footnotes in the Chicago Manual of Style
Add an superscript number to the end of the statement. This is known as a footnote. In MS Word, click "Insert" and then click "Insert footnote." Then, at the end of the page, you can insert the corresponding note.
- For e-books, use this format: Author's name (first name first, then last name), Book title (place of publication: publisher, year of publication), page number, web address.
- Basic example: In the past, great intellectuals like H. G. Wells, argued that "Human history has increasingly become a race between education and catastrophe." [Insert footnote here]. In the footer, after the corresponding number, you must write: H. G. Wells, The Outline of History (London: MacMillan, 1921), 1100, https://www.books.google.com..
- For PDF of magazine articles it is not necessary to indicate the file type in the footnotes. Simply type: Author's name (first name first, then last name), "Article title", Journal title, volume number, issue number (publication date): page number.
- Basic example: Natalie Zemon Davis argues in her article "The Rites of Violence" that religious protesters saw their violence as a "form of purification." [Insert footnote here] In the footnote, after the corresponding number, you should write: Natalie Zemon Davis, "The Rites of Violence: Religious Riot in Sixteenth-Century France" 59, no. 3 (1973): 51.
Step 2. Insert a reference for the e-book PDF into your Chicago Manual of Style bibliography
The basic format is: Author's last name, Author's name. Book title PDF file. Place of publication: publisher, date of publication. Type of file. Web address.
Basic example: Smith, John. The fantastic novel. London: Great Publishing House, 2010. PDF e-book
Step 3. Insert a PDF magazine article reference into your Chicago Manual of Style bibliography
It is not necessary to cite the file type in your bibliography. Instead you can provide the DOI number or the web address.
- The basic format is: Author's last name, Author's name. "Article title". Journal title, volume number, issue number (publication date): page numbers. DOI:
- Basic example: Doe, Jane. "Interesting article to quote". Information from the specialized publication of the online appointment 4, no. 7 (2006): 82-5. DOI: 12.345 / abc123-456.
- If you don't have the DOI number, use this format: Author's Last Name, Author's First Name. "Article title". Journal title, volume number, issue number (publication date): page numbers. Date of access.
- Basic example: Doe, Jane. "Interesting article to quote". Information from the online appointment trade publication, no. 7 (2006): 82-5. Web address. Accessed November 20, 2012.