While professionals in the field generally use the documentation style prescribed by the organization or academic journal for which they are writing, instructors typically ask students to use the style guidelines of the American Psychological Association (APA) or the name-year system of The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) to format their paper, to document sources in the text of their paper, and to list sources at the end. Both systems call for in-text, parenthetical citations rather than footnotes or endnotes. The APA system is set forth in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed. (Washington, DC: APA, 2010). CMS style is found in The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010). (For more details, see APA papers or CMS papers.)

Sometimes students are asked to use Bluebook style (or, as it’s sometimes called, modified Bluebooking) when they cite sources in case briefs and legal briefs. Bluebook format is used by courts, attorneys, and law schools; however, most instructors do not require students to learn this specialized style.