How to Cite in a PowerPoint (APA, MLA, Chicago Style)

Properly citing sources in a PowerPoint presentation is important for several reasons:

• It gives credit to the original creator and shows that you have done proper research.
• It strengthens your own work by drawing on credible outside sources.
• It allows your audience to verify the information if they want to learn more.

There are a few major citation styles used in research papers and presentations:

APA Style

APA Style is commonly used for scientific and social science papers and presentations. Here are the key rules for citing in APA Style:

• In-Text Citations: Include the author’s last name and year of publication in parentheses at the end of the borrowed text. For example: (Smith, 2019).
• Reference List: Include a reference list (titled “References”) at the end of the PPT presentation. Format references with a hanging indent and include author name, publication year, title, and source.
• Images/Tables/Data: Cite images, tables, and data sets used in the presentation on the slide where they appear with an in-text citation and include the full reference at the end.
• Online PowerPoints: Cite file author, year, title in square brackets [” “], site name, URL on the final References slide.

MLA Style

MLA Style is often used for papers and presentations in the humanities. The key rules are:

• In-Text Citations: For quotes or paraphrases, include the author’s last name and page number in parentheses after the text. For PowerPoints, use the slide number instead of a page.
• Works Cited: Have a final Works Cited slide with references in alphabetical order by authors’ last names with hanging indent. Format with author, title, publisher, etc.
• Online PowerPoints: On the Works Cited slide, include author name, presentation title, site name in italics, date posted, URL.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Chicago Style is commonly used for business, history and fine arts presentations. The guidelines are:

• Footnotes: Use footnotes for in-text citations with superscript numbers that correspond to citations at the bottom of the slide. Include author, title, publication details, etc.
• Bibliography Slide: List all references cited in the presentation in bibliography slide at the end in alphabetical order by author’s last name with hanging indent.
• Online PowerPoints: List author name, presentation title, date, site name, URL, access date on the bibliography slide.

Tips for Citing in PowerPoint

• Place in-text citations on the content slide rather than just at the end.
• Use citation management tools like EndNote or RefWorks to easily create and format citations.
• Make sure online presentations are accessible to your audience if cited.
• If citing information secondhand from a PowerPoint, cite the original source when possible.
• Use notes on the side of slides to record citation details.
• Consult your style guide for specific formatting rules.

Properly formatting citations within a PowerPoint presentation can seem tricky, but doing so ensures you give proper credit to all sources used while also lending credibility to your own work. By keeping these key citation style guidelines in mind and taking advantage of available tools, creating correct PowerPoint citations can be straightforward process.