In an APA citation, cite a PDF the same way you would cite a webpage, including the URL leading to the PDF.In a MLA citation, to cite a downloaded PDF, change the medium description to “PDF download.” To cite a PDF file available to view online, change the location description to the URL leading to the PDF.

Here is how you would do this in the three most popular citation styles: Then, depending on the citation style you are using, you can add a short note to the citation that indicates that the source was in PDF, or you can include a URL that links directly to the PDF. The key to understanding how to cite a PDF is:Īlways cite the PDF based on what source the file actually is.Ī PDF, after all, is not really a source itself, but rather a file type and a way to display a source.įor example, if the source you wish to cite is a PDF of a newspaper article, cite the source as you would a newspaper.

Once you understand the process behind it, however, it becomes a very simple task.

So you want to cite a PDF (or a Portable Document Format) file, but don’t know what citation format to use.Ĭiting PDFs can be a seemingly tricky part of writing a paper.

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