How to Write a Reference List: APA, MLA, Chicago, and a Note on Korean Styles

Collect first, format second

The Korean original is a step-by-step for a student paper: gather bibliographic details while you read, choose a style, then format in a word processor. That order prevents the usual last-night scramble.

For each source write the author, year, title, venue, pages or a stable URL, and the date you saw it if it is a web page.

Use one official style

APA, MLA, and Chicago are maintained by official manuals and sites. Quote the current edition your course names. Engineering courses that ask for IEEE should use IEEE's official style, not an invented hybrid.

In-text citations and the final list must belong to the same system. Footnotes in a humanities paper follow Chicago notes if that is the assigned style, not APA's author-date, unless the course says otherwise.

Korean and other local sources

Korean journal articles, theses, government statistics, and news reports are citable when they have a clear author or agency, a date, and a venue. In an English, Japanese, Chinese, or Arabic paper, add enough information that a reader can find the item: original title, a romanization or translation if needed, and a URL or a database name.

RISS, KCI, or a university repository can be the access point, but they are not a substitute for the bibliographic details of the work itself.

Limits

Style manuals are updated. Check the official APA Style, MLA, or Chicago page, or the IEEE site, for the current form of a website, a preprint, or a generative-AI disclosure, rather than copying an old campus handout uncritically.

This page is a process guide, not a complete style manual.

Sources

  1. The original CampusDown guide to writing a reference list.
  2. Official style sources as assigned: APA Style (current edition), the MLA Handbook, The Chicago Manual of Style, or IEEE editorial style, on their official pages.
  3. The bibliographic record of each work you cite, not only the database you used to find it.

Last updated: November 13, 2026

FAQ

When should I start the reference list?
When you first open a source. Waiting until the night before almost always means lost page numbers and missing years.
Which style should I use?
The one your course names. If it says APA, use the current APA manual or APA Style official page. Do not mix MLA in-text dates with a Chicago notes system.
How do I cite a Korean article in an English paper?
Give the authors, year, title, and venue as completely as the official style requires. A romanization and the original title can both appear when the style allows it. Do not leave a bare Korean title with no year or venue.

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