Citation styles
There are many different guides and styles for citing both printed and electronic sources. This is why there can be no one definitive way to cite a particular source. Remember to check what practice is used in your department. A citation usually includes at least the author(s), date of publication and pages. Most importantly: be systematic!
The styles used in the examples are APA 7th and Chicago 17th. More:
APA:
- Official style guide:
- Blog & quick guide: .
Chicago:
- Official style guide: .
- Quick guide: .
Standard format:
(Kaukua, 2015)
Add page numbers if citing a specific part of the source. You can also cite specific chapters, tables etc.
(Tenhunen & Säävälä, 2012, p. 147)
(Atkins & de Paula, 2014, Chapter 3)
If there are three authors or more cite "first author et al.", unless it would create the same citation for multiple sources. In that case, list as many authors as needed to avoid ambiguity. Note that "et al." can't be used to replace just one name.
(Swarr et al., 2011, p. 64)
(Virtanen, Lahtinen, Koskinen, & Nieminen, 2024)
(Virtanen, Lahtinen, Koskinen, & Saarinen, 2024)
If your references have multiple first authors with the same surname, add initials to the in-text citations for clarity. This is done even if the other authors and dates are completely different.
(A.I. Virtanen, 1935)
(B. Virtanen et al., 2005)
For references with the same author/group of authors and date, separate them by including lowercase letters (a,b...) after the year in the alphabetical order of the titles.
(Virtanen, 2024a; Virtanen, 2024b)
For translated works, add both the original publication year and the year of the translation (note! this rule seems to be quite often ignored).
(Bourdieu, 1996/2011, pp. 34–35)
The author can also be an organization. If the author is not mentioned in the publication, the citation in text is the beginning of the title in italics. If there is no publication date, use the notation "n.d."
(Google, 2021)
(Apple tax, 2016)
(Student Union of the Ģֱ, n.d.)
1-20 authors (list all the authors):
Kaukua, J. (2015). Self-awareness in Islamic philosophy: Avicenna and beyond. Cambridge University Press.
Tenhunen, S., & Säävälä, M. (2012). Introduction to India: Culture, politics and development. Anthem Press.
Swarr, T., Hunkeler, D., Klöppfer, W., Pesonen, H.-L., Ciroth, A., Brent, A., & Pagan, R. (2011). Environmental life-cycle costing: A code of practice. SETAC Press.
21+ authors (list 19 authors from the start and the last one):
Viskari, J., Kokko, J., Torpo, L., Kunelius, A.-S., Santtila, M., Kyröläinen, H., llomäki, J., Luomi, A. M., Kivelä, J., Lipponen, H., Hyyppä, O., Välimetsä, P., Huhtala, P., Suihkonen, M., Puustinen, J., Kurkela, M., Nykänen, T., Räsänen, S., lsola, V., . . . Pihlainen, K. (2015). Liikuntakoulutuksen käsikirja 2015. Pääesikunta, Koulutusosasto.
E-books in reference lists and bibliographies are usually cited exactly as printed books. If the e-book has a doi, add it to the reference.
Atkins, P., & de Paula, J. (2014). Atkins' physical chemistry (10th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (2011). On television (P. Parkhurst Ferguson, Trans.). Polity. (Original work published 1996)
Mikkonen, S., & Suutari, P. (Eds.). (2016). Music, art and diplomacy: East-West cultural interactions and the Cold War. Ashgate.
Kärnä, E. (2015). Implementing strategy means changes for employees. In F. E. P. Dievernich, K. O. Tokarski, & J. Gong (Eds.), Change management and the human factor: Advances, challenges and contradictions in organizational development (pp. 109–127). Springer International Publishing.
Agbese, M., Halme, E., Mohanani, R., & Abrahamsson, P. (2024). Towards a business case for AI ethics. In S. Hyrynsalmi, J. Münch, K. Smolander & J. Melegati (Eds.), Software Business : 14th International Conference, ICSOB 2023, Lahti, Finland, November 27–29, 2023, Proceedings (pp. 231–246). Springer.
Virtanen, A. (2016). Insights into the agency, positioning and development of professional Finnish language skills of international nursing students. Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies, 10(2), 63–81.
Carlson, E., Wilson, J., Baltazar, M., Duman, D., Peltola, H.-R., Toiviainen, P., & Saarikallio, S. (2021). The role of music in everyday life during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic: A mixed-methods exploratory study. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 647756.
Croucher, S., & Kramer, E. (2016). Cultural fusion theory : An alternative to acculturation. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication. Advance online publication.
Dobbs, D. (2016, September). A cure in sight. National Geographic, 230(3), 30–53.
Brulliard, K. (2016, September 7). Breaking North American birdwatching’s toughest record. The Washington Post, A3.
Arentshorst, H. (2015). Review of the book Freedom’s right. The social foundations of democratic life, by A. Honneth, trans. J. Ganahl. Journal of Social Ontology 1(1), 167–170.
Salokas, T.-P. (2021). Ainutlaatuinen esitys antiikin Rooman satamakaupungista. [Review of the book Ostia, portti Roomaan, by A. Karivieri & M. Meriluoto, Eds.]. Historiallinen aikakauskirja, 119(1), 120–121.
Savolainen, P. (2001). Finding a right way to communicate: Evaluation of communication practices in a multicultural project [Master's thesis, Ģֱ]. JYX Digital Repository.
Böckerman, P., Laine, L. T., Nurminen, M., & Saxell, T. (2020). Information integration, coordination failures, and quality of prescribing (IZA Discussion Papers 13926). IZA Institute of Labor Economics.
European Social Survey, & Ervasti, H. (2015). European social survey 2014: Finnish data (Version 1.0) [Dataset]. Finnish Social Science Data Archive.
Google. (2024, September 16). Google privacy policy.
Apple tax: Irish cabinet to appeal EU Commission ruling. (2016, September 2). BBC News.
Some webpages are meant to be updated. If the previous versions are archived, as in the case of Wikipedia articles, reference the exact version (link from "View history"):
World Wide Web (2025, March 25). Wikipedia.
If the webpage is designed to be updated, and the previous versions are not archived, add a retrieval date.
Student Union of the Ģֱ. (n.d.). Administration. Retrieved 26 March, 2025, from
Häkkinen, T. (2016, January 20). Parliament and the Gulf War in 1991. The History of Parliament.
Sloan, B., & Pelling, J. [Don't Hug me I'm Scared]. (2016, June 19). Don't hug me I'm scared 6 [Video]. YouTube.
ProQuestRefworks. (2013, January 8). RefWorks Write-N-Cite 4: Installing & logging in [Video]. YouTube.
CoE GameCult. (2021, April 29). Monstrosity 21 Keynote: Aino-Kaisa Koistinen [Video]. YouTube.
Credit the channel that uploaded the video as the author. If the people responsible for all the content of the channel are known, you can use their names, and add the channel name in square brackets. If the speaker in the video is not listed as the author, you can credit them in the text narration: “Koistinen describes how it feels to write with a cat on your lap (CoE GameCult, 2021).”
Podcast series:
Ripley, B. & Ward, S. (Hosts). (2023–2024). Seven deadly psychologies [Audio podcast]. BBC.
Podcast episode:
Browne, R. (Host). (2024). Can comedy help you survive the dark Finnish winter? [Audio podcast episode]. All Points North. Yle.
Colbert, S. [@StephenAtHome]. (2016, April 28). Who is David Tennant? Yes. And vice versa. #LSSC. VIDEO: ? [Post]. X.
Ihalainen, P. (2023, May 17). Representative democracy as a contested concept: Parliaments after the French, Russian and digital revolutions [Guest lecture]. 14th Gerald Stourzh Lecture on the History of Human Rights and Democracy, University of Vienna, Austria.
Saresma, T. (2022, August 25). Migration and diversity narratives: an intersectional approach [Webinar]. Ģֱ; FORTHEM.
Recordings and lecture material on closed course platforms, e.g. Moodle: You can cite them as above when you are writing a text for course work. Your readers will be the teachers and students on course, and they have access to the same sources. If you are writing a text that is going to be published for a wider audience, cite these materials only in text as “personal correspondence”, and don't add them to the reference list.
(Kaukua 2015)
(Tenhunen and Säävälä 2012, 147)
(Alasuutari, Markström and Vallberg-Roth 2014, 89–90)
Add page numbers if citing a specific part of the source.
(Swarr et al. 2011, 64)
If there are four authors or more cite "first author et al.", unless it would create the same citation for multiple sources. In that case, list as many authors as needed to avoid ambiguity.
(Google 2021)
("Apple tax" 2016)
(Student Union of the Ģֱ, n.d.)
The author can also be an organization. If the author is not mentioned in the publication, the citation in text is the beginning of the title in quotations. If there is no publication date, use the notation "n.d."
Newspaper articles and web pages including blogs can also be quoted in running text, e.g.
'In the article "Breaking North American Birdwatching’s Toughest Record" published September 7th in The Washington Post . . .'
'In "Parliament and the Gulf War in 1991", an entry posted to The History of Parliament -blog on January 20, 2016, . . .'
'In a tweet posted to @StephenAtHome on April 28, 2016, . . .'
In this case the source is not added to the bibliography.
Kaukua, Jari. 2015. Self-Awareness in Islamic Philosophy: Avicenna and Beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tenhunen, Sirpa, and Minna Säävälä. 2012. Introduction to India: Culture, Politics and Development. London: Anthem Press.
Swarr, Thomas, David Hunkeler, Walter Klöppfer, Hanna-Leena Pesonen, Andreas Ciroth, Alan Brent, and Robert Pagan. 2011. Environmental Life-Cycle Costing: A Code of Practice. Pensacola: SETAC Press.
Atkins, Peter, and Julio de Paula. 2014. Atkins' Physical Chemistry. 10th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 2011. On Television. Translated by Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson. Cambridge: Polity.
Mikkonen, Simo, and Pekka Suutari, eds. 2016. Music, Art and Diplomacy: East-West Cultural Interactions and the Cold War. Farnham: Ashgate.
Kärnä, Eija. 2015. "Implementing Strategy Means Changes for Employees." In Change Management and the Human Factor: Advances, Challenges and Contradictions in Organizational Development, edited by Frank E. P. Dievernich, Kim Oliver Tokarski, and Jie Gong, 109–27. Cham: Springer International Publishing. .
Virtanen, Aija. 2016. "Insights into the Agency, Positioning and Development of Professional Finnish Language Skills of International Nursing Students." Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies 10 (2): 63–81. .
Carlson, Emily, Johanna Wilson, Margarida Baltazar, Deniz Duman, Henna-Riikka Peltola, Petri Toiviainen, and Suvi Saarikallio. 2021. ”The Role of Music in Everyday Life During the First Wave of the Coronavirus Pandemic: A Mixed-Methods Exploratory Study”. Frontiers in Psychology 12: 647756. .
Croucher, Stephen, and Eric Kramer. 2016. "Cultural Fusion Theory : An Alternative to Acculturation." Journal of International and Intercultural Communication. Published electronically September 7. .
Dobbs, David. 2016. "A Cure in Sight." National Geographic, September 2016, 30–53.
Brulliard, Karin. 2016. "Breaking North American Birdwatching’s Toughest Record." Washington Post, September 7, 2016, A3.
OR
Cite only in running text.
Arentshorst, Hans. 2015. Review of Freedom’s Right. The Social Foundations of Democratic Life, by Axel Honneth, trans. Joseph Ganahl. Journal of Social Ontology 1(1): 167–70. .
Savolainen, Pinja. 2001. "Finding a Right Way to Communicate: Evaluation of Communication Practices in a Multicultural Project." Master's thesis, Ģֱ. .
Böckerman, Petri, Liisa T. Laine, Mikko Nurminen, and Tanja Saxell. 2020. "Information Integration, Coordination Failures, and Quality of Prescribing." IZA Discussion Papers 13926. Bonn: IZA Institute of Labor Economics. .
European Social Survey, and Heikki Ervasti. 2015. "European Social Survey 2014: Finnish Data." Version 1.0, November 17, 2015. Finnish Social Science Data Archive. .
Google. 2016. “Google Privacy Policy.” Last modified August 29, 2016. .
"Apple Tax: Irish Cabinet to Appeal EU Commission Ruling." 2016. BBC.com, September 2, 2016. .
Student Union of the Ģֱ. "Administration." Accessed July 14, 2022.
Sloan, Becky, and Joseph Pelling. 2016. Don't Hug Me I'm Scared 6. YouTube video, 7:59, June 19, 2016. .
ProQuestRefworks. 2013. "RefWorks Write-N-Cite 4: Installing & Logging In." YouTube video, 2:07, January 8, 2013. .
Häkkinen, Teemu. 2016. "Parliament and the Gulf War in 1991." The History of Parliament (blog), January 20.
OR
Cite only in running text.
If you cite a Twitter-stream frequently, you can add it to your bibliography:
Colbert, Stephen. @StephenAtHome. Twitter. .
OR
Colbert, Stephen (@StephenAtHome). 2016. "Who is David Tennant? Yes. And vice versa." Twitter, 28.4.2016. .
Both the APA and Chicago styles instruct to use common legal referencing practice, which in the United States is based on "The Bluebook" writing guide: All the examples in the APA and Chicago guides are based on the US legal system, so they do not directly translate to those in Finland or other countries.
In Finland, information on citing legal sources can be found, for example, in the writing guidelines of the Lakimies magazine: . Another extensive guideline, which also contains plenty of examples, is the writing instructions of the Police University College: .
The examples below combine APA and Chicago guidelines and Finnish practice. Please note, that when it comes to laws, you usually refer to the current version, and the year of publication is not mentioned. Whereas, there is a publication year for the regulation of the Agency of Education in the second example.
APA:
(ձ쾱äԴǾܲ쾱 404/1961)
ձ쾱äԴǾܲ쾱 404/1961.
(National core curriculum for integration training 2022, 2022)
National Core Curriculum for Integration Training 2022, OPH-649-2022 (2022).
Chicago:
Legal sources are usually cited in running text or in footnotes, and are not listed in the bibliography. The exception are sources that are individual publications. The can be cited like the Opetushallituksen määräys below.
Cite in running text: ձ쾱äԴǾܲ쾱 (404/1961)
(Finnish National Agency for Education 2022)
Finnish National Agency for Education. 2022. National Core Curriculum for Integration Training 2022. Regulation and Guidelines 2022:1a. Helsinki: Finnish National Agency for Education.
What about an image quote? In the you will find instructions on how to use images.
How would I refer to the text created by ChatGPT or another AI tools? or .