How to Add Citations and Bibliography to a Google Doc

Are you looking for a way to add citations or bibliography to your research paper or essay in Google Docs? If so, you've come to the right place.

We live in a time when citing sources is crucial. Whether you're a student, blogger, or business owner, including citations and bibliographies is essential when writing blog posts, articles, or research papers.

You'll want to acknowledge other people's work and ideas to reinforce the integrity of your work while protecting yourself from potential lawsuits for plagiarism or copyright infringement.

This article will show you how to add citations and bibliographies in Google Docs so you can make sure all your sources are properly documented.

Why add citations and a bibliography to a Google Doc?

Bibliography and citations are essential parts of any research paper. If you want your work to be taken seriously, you need citations that show where the information comes from. They give you credibility and give credit to the author of the information.

Citations also make it easier for your readers to identify your sources for further investigation. They refer readers to the original work itself so they can judge the reliability and accuracy of what has been said about it. Citations also help other researchers avoid duplicating work or repeating old mistakes.

In scientific writing, this information may include references to data from experiments or studies and reports created by others, as well as direct quotations from such reports. In journalistic writing, this may mean quoting news sources or other authors who have commented on a particular event.

Your bibliography is an alphabetical list of all the books, articles, and other sources that you have cited in your article. It can also include maps, diagrams, songs, visual images, etc.

The bibliography helps readers follow complex arguments by helping them draw cross-references between different parts of the text. A reader can quickly jump to any referenced item and learn more about a given topic or sub-topic. A good bibliography also allows researchers to find work they weren't already aware of that supports their case.

That said, creating bibliographies and citations by hand can be time-consuming, which is why many people use citation generators like Endnote or Zotero. Unfortunately, these programs don't always work as expected.

That's why it's safer to add citations and bibliographies with Google Docs' built-in tools when using it as a word processor.

How to Add Citations to a Google Doc

There are two ways to add citations to a Google Doc: using the Citations tool or the Explore tool.

Let's see how each of these tools works.

Quotes Tool

The Citations tool is a feature of Google Docs that lets you cite sources in your document. It helps you to generate the citation in APA, MLA or Chicago format.

Here's how to use this tool to add a source:

1. Open the document you are interested in and click on “Tools”.
   
2. Select "Quotes" from the drop-down menu. This should open a sidebar on the right side of your screen.
   
3. Select the style you want to use (MLA, APA, or Chicago) from the drop-down menu.
   
4. Click “Add Citation Source”.
   
5. Select the type of source from the drop-down menu and the medium used to access it. For example, you can choose "Book" as the source type and "Website" as the medium.
   
6. Enter more details about the source in the fields provided, including the author's first and last name, title, and publisher.
   
7. Once you've checked all entries, click the "Add Citation Source" button at the bottom of the sidebar. At this point, the source will be added as a citable item.
   
8. Repeat steps 2 through 7 for each of your sources.

How to add an in-text citation

The Citations tool provides standard formatting for in-text citations that are used in many different style textbooks. This can significantly reduce formatting time when preparing a document.

Here's how to add an in-text citation:

1. Open the document you are interested in and navigate to the position in the text where the citable element will appear.
   
2. Open the Quotes sidebar and hover over the item you want to quote.
3. Click on “Cite”. The source should now appear sandwiched within the text of your document.
   

How do I change the citation source?

Sometimes you will make mistakes when adding a source. For example, you may select the wrong source type or even misspell the author's name.

Luckily, it's very easy to edit added citations using the Google Docs Citation Tool.

Here's how:

1. Open the Quotes sidebar. You should be able to see a list of all your citations.
   
2. Click on the three dots next to the item you are interested in and select "Edit" from the context menu.
   

exploration tool

Want quick access to the web, Drive, or pictures without having to leave Google Docs? This is exactly what the Explore tool offers. It's perfect when you have a not-so-clear idea of ​​what you're looking for and need to take a quick tour of the web.

Here's how to create a citation using the Explore tool:

1. Open your document and click on “Tools”.
   
2. Select "Explore" from the drop-down menu. You can also click the star icon at the bottom of your document.
   
3. Enter a word, phrase, or website URL you want to use and search. At this point, you should see a list of all potential sources.
   
4. To open one of the listed sources, click on the corresponding hyperlink. Each hyperlink opens to a new page.
   
5. To use a source from the list, hover over it and click the quotation mark in the upper right corner.
6. Click the three vertical dots at the top of the citations sidebar to change the citation format.
   

Sources added through the Explore tool appear as footnotes with the selected formatting.

How to Add a Bibliography in Google Docs

Adding the bibliography to a Google Doc is quick and easy. Here's how:

1. Open the document and position the cursor where you want the bibliography to appear.
2. Open the citations sidebar and click "Insert Bibliography". At this point, Google Docs algorithms will generate a centered bibliography title with a list of citations formatted in the selected style.

Improve the integrity of your work

If you use Google Docs to organize your research, it's important to make sure your citations and bibliography match what appears in the text of your article. This can improve the credibility and integrity of your work and help you avoid formatting errors because everything is automated.

Whether you're an undergraduate student writing your thesis proposal or a professor who needs help aligning research with common research formats required by academic standards, Google Docs has built-in tools to help you achieve your goal.

Have you tried adding citations in Google Docs using one of the tools described in this article? How was it?

Let us know in the comments section below.