Thinkabara

7 lessons College students and AP/IB students

Research Papers & Citations

Google Classroom

7 lessons from a blank page to a cited, formatted research paper. The APA & MLA citation generator is built into the lessons, so your reference list grows as you go.

Start: From topic to research question →

All lessons

  1. ❓ 1. From topic to research questionNarrow a broad topic into a question you can answer
  2. 🔎 2. Finding scholarly sourcesLibrary databases, Google Scholar and smart search terms
  3. ⚖️ 3. Evaluating sourcesPeer review, the CRAAP test and lateral reading
  4. 🧭 4. Thesis and outlineAn arguable thesis and an outline built around it
  5. 💬 5. In-text citationsQuoting, paraphrasing and citing in APA and MLA
  6. 📋 6. References and Works CitedFormatting the list: APA 7 and MLA 9 entries, hanging indents and order
  7. ✅ 7. Formatting, revising and academic integrityPaper format, revision passes, the writing center and AI rules

✏️ Practice: APA & MLA citation generator with a saved works-cited list

About this course

The course follows the process most US college writing courses teach: topic → research question → sources → thesis → outline → draft → revise → cite and format. It covers APA 7th edition (social sciences, education, nursing, business) and MLA 9th edition (English and humanities).

Your campus library and writing center are free and excellent — the course points you to them at the right moments.

Questions & answers

APA or MLA — which one should I use?
Use whatever your instructor asks for. In general, APA is used in psychology, education, nursing, business and the social sciences; MLA in English, languages and the humanities. Chicago is common in history.
Is the citation generator accurate?
It follows APA 7 and MLA 9 rules for books, journal articles, web pages and videos. Always double-check capitalization (APA uses sentence case for titles) and your instructor’s preferences.
Can I use Wikipedia?
Use it to get oriented and to find sources in its references, but cite the original sources, not Wikipedia itself — most instructors won’t accept it as a source.
Is the course free?
Yes, with no sign-up. Saved citations stay in your browser.

Related

Citation generatorHow to write a summaryOnline document editorWord: a paper ready to hand in