Citation Styles

Citation Styles

Academic References supports over 10,700 citation styles, covering virtually every academic journal and style guide. This page explains how to choose, preview, and customize citation styles.

What is a Citation Style?

A citation style defines how references appear in your text and bibliography. Different academic disciplines and journals require different formats.

In-text citation examples:

StyleIn-Text
APA 7th(Smith, 2020)
MLA 9th(Smith 42)
Chicago Author-Date(Smith 2020)
Chicago Notes^1
IEEE[1]
Vancouver(1)
Harvard(Smith, 2020)

Bibliography entry examples (same source):

APA 7th:

Smith, J. A. (2020). Article title. Journal Name, 10(2), 42-50.

MLA 9th:

Smith, John A. “Article Title.” Journal Name, vol. 10, no. 2, 2020, pp. 42-50.

Chicago:

Smith, John A. “Article Title.” Journal Name 10, no. 2 (2020): 42-50.

Choosing a Citation Style

Step 1: Open Settings

Navigate to References > Settings > Citation Style.

Step 2: Search for Your Style

Use the search box to find your style by name:

  • University name (Harvard, Oxford)
  • Style name (APA, MLA)
  • Journal name (Nature, Science)
  • Publisher name (Elsevier, Springer)
Style Selector

Search and select from 10,700+ styles

Step 3: Preview the Style

Click a style to see how citations and bibliography entries will appear.

Style Preview

Preview panel showing formatted examples

Step 4: Save Your Selection

Click Save Changes to apply the style site-wide.

Common Citation Styles

APA 7th Edition

Best for: Psychology, education, social sciences

In-text: (Author, Year) Bibliography: Author surname, Initials. (Year). Title. Source, Volume(Issue), Pages. DOI

APA Example

APA 7th edition formatting

MLA 9th Edition

Best for: Literature, humanities, liberal arts

In-text: (Author Page) Works Cited: Author. “Title.” Source, other contributors, version, number, publisher, date, location.

Chicago Manual of Style

Two variants:

Notes-Bibliography (Humanities):

  • Uses footnotes/endnotes
  • Bibliography at end

Author-Date (Sciences):

  • Parenthetical citations
  • Reference list at end

IEEE

Best for: Engineering, computer science, electronics

In-text: [1], [2], etc. References: Numbered list in order of first citation

Harvard

Best for: Business, sciences (UK/Australia)

In-text: (Author Year) Reference list: Alphabetical by author

Vancouver

Best for: Medicine, nursing, biomedical sciences

In-text: (1), (2), etc. References: Numbered list in citation order

AMA (American Medical Association)

Best for: Medical journals

In-text: Superscript numbers References: Numbered list

Style Categories

Styles generally fall into these categories:

CategoryCharacteristicsExamples
Author-Date(Author, Year) in textAPA, Harvard, Chicago AD
Numeric[1] or (1) in textIEEE, Vancouver, Nature
NoteFootnotes/endnotesChicago NB, Turabian, OSCOLA
Author-Page(Author Page)MLA

Customizing Style Display

While the style definition controls formatting, you can adjust some display options:

In Settings > Display

  • Link DOIs – Make DOIs clickable
  • Link URLs – Make URLs clickable
  • Show access dates – For online sources

In Bibliography Block

  • Heading – Customize section title
  • Spacing – Adjust entry spacing
  • Hanging indent – Enable/disable

Using Custom CSL Files

Academic References uses CSL (Citation Style Language), an open standard. You can upload custom CSL files for:

  • Institutional requirements
  • Modified existing styles
  • New styles not yet in the repository

To Upload a Custom Style:

  1. Go to References > Settings > Citation Style
  2. Click Upload Custom Style
  3. Select your .csl file
  4. The style appears in your available styles

Where to Find CSL Files

Journal-Specific Styles

Many journals have exact style requirements. Search for them by journal name:

  • Nature
  • Science
  • The Lancet
  • PLOS ONE
  • Cell
  • New England Journal of Medicine

These styles match the journal’s submission requirements exactly.

Changing Styles Mid-Post

All citations use your site-wide default style. To use different styles in different posts:

  1. This feature is planned for a future version
  2. Currently, change the site-wide style before publishing
  3. Or use custom CSS to adjust appearance per post

Style Not Working Correctly?

If citations don’t appear as expected:

  1. Check the style – Preview it in settings to confirm it’s what you need
  2. Check your reference data – Missing fields cause incomplete citations
  3. Check the reference type – Book vs. article affects formatting
  4. Clear caches – Theme/plugin caching can show old formats

Style Requests

Can’t find your required style?

  1. Check the Zotero Style Repository first
  2. Search by alternative names (university, journal, publisher)
  3. Contact support with the style guide documentation
  4. Consider using a similar style and noting differences

Best Practices

  1. Set style early – Choose before adding references
  2. Match requirements – Use the exact style your publication requires
  3. Preview extensively – Check various reference types before publishing
  4. Document custom styles – Keep notes on any customizations
  5. Update periodically – Style guides update; so do CSL files

Next Steps

Last updated: January 31, 2026