The University of Toronto has no single citation style. Its libraries' guide, Citing Sources / Create Your Bibliography, lists eight: MLA, APA, Chicago, NLM, ASA, Vancouver, CSE and IEEE (University of Toronto Libraries, 2026e). Your course sets the one you use, as the UTM Library reminds students (University of Toronto Mississauga Library, 2026d). Of the styles U of T's faculty pages name, APA 7 comes up most: nursing requires it, and the Rotman, psychology and UTM economics guides point to it.
EdCitation is not affiliated with the University of Toronto; this follows its public library guide, checked on 2 October 2026. Every rule below was read that day in U of T's own pages, linked under References. EdCitation publishes this guide; its last sections quote what the free Cite a source and Verify references returned, faults included.
Which citation style does the University of Toronto use?
The one your course outline names. Where a U of T page names a style, it says this:
| Faculty, department or subject | Style its page names | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Social sciences, management studies, many sciences | APA, author-date | Writing at U of T (Procter, n.d.) |
| Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing | APA 7th edition, the "required style manual" | Master of Nursing handbook (2026) |
| Rotman School of Management | APA, preferred for business and management | Rotman's Cite it Right guide (2026a) |
| Psychology | APA 7th edition | Psychology guide (2026b) |
| UTM Economics | APA, unless the professor asks for another | UTM economics guide (2026b) |
| UTM Sociology; Criminology, Law & Society | ASA 7th edition, in the department's own guide | Baker (2023) |
| Humanities | MLA, or footnotes with a bibliography | Procter (n.d.) |
| UTM History | Chicago 18th edition, notes and bibliography | UTM history guide (2026c) |
| Music | Chicago 18th edition, both systems; notes and bibliography the default | Music guide (2026c) |
| Engineering and computer science | IEEE first, then AIAA, SAE, ACS, NLM, AMA and APA | Engineering guide (2026i) |
| Life and medical sciences | Vancouver (ICMJE), numbered | Procter (n.d.) |
| Law, treaties | The McGill Guide | Treaty Research guide (2026h) |
| Any APA, MLA, Chicago author-date, IEEE or Vancouver course | Each entry built in Cite a source, free | EdCitation |
EdCitation builds APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 18 in author-date form only, IEEE, Vancouver and Harvard. It does not build Chicago's notes and bibliography, so history and music footnotes are written by hand, nor the McGill Guide, ASA, CSE, ACS, AIAA, SAE or AMA. For the national picture, see referencing at Canadian universities.
Which U of T page is out of date?
Writing at U of T's Standard Documentation Formats (Procter, n.d.) still maps the disciplines, but its examples follow APA's sixth edition, Chicago's 15th and MLA's 8th: take the form from the library's quick guides. One point stands: many U of T instructors want page numbers on every APA citation, so ask.
Citing AI at U of T
University of Toronto Libraries (2026f) says to ask your professors before using AI on any assignment and, where it is allowed, to cite AI-generated content and any editing or translating a tool did, following APA's, MLA's or Chicago's own guidance. There is no published record to look up, so the entry is written by hand.
What are U of T's APA 7 rules?
The UTM Library's APA Citation Quick Guide (University of Toronto Mississauga Library, 2023) holds U of T's fullest set of APA 7 examples. It sets these rules:
| Rule | U of T's form |
|---|---|
| In the text | (Conboy, 2017) or Conboy (2017); "&" in brackets, "and" in a sentence |
| Et al. | From three authors, in every citation; the reference names every author up to 20 |
| DOI | As a link: https://doi.org/ and the number |
| Database article without a DOI | End after the page range, as for print |
| Print newspaper | The page after the newspaper's title, with no "p." |
| Organisation as author | Abbreviation at first citation, (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020); no site name when it repeats the author; n.d. when undated |
| Quercus slides | Lecturer, date, title, [PowerPoint slides], Quercus and the login page's address |
| Emails and interviews | In the text only: initials, surname, "personal communication" and the exact date |
| Quotations | Page or paragraph number; 40 words or more as a block, no full stop after the closing bracket |
| Building the entry | Cite a source, then the hand changes below |
Where U of T's own examples slip
Copy the guide's patterns, not its entries. Five slips:
- Conboy's DOI carries an extra digit: the guide prints 10.1080/1461670X.2017.13369355, and the record is 10.1080/1461670X.2017.1336935. The title also lacks its subtitle, "Decline and fall?".
- Tamtik and Guenter appear "without DOI", though the record holds 10.47678/cjhe.v49i3.188529, and without the comma before "&".
- Weaver's chapter reads "In Mortensen, C. D. (Ed.), Communication Theory"; APA puts initials first and lowers the title: In C. D. Mortensen (Ed.), Communication theory.
- Dornstauder becomes "Domstauder" in the narrative citation.
- The Quercus example puts a full stop before "[PowerPoint slides]"; its template does not. Follow the template.
What does a U of T APA 7 reference list look like?
Four entries in exactly the UTM guide's form, the slips above fixed: two articles, a Statistics Canada page and the guide's own Quercus example. Each takes a hanging indent.
References
Conboy, M. (2017). Journalism and the democratic market society: Decline and fall? Journalism Studies, 18(10), 1263–1276. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2017.1336935
Smith, M. C. (2019, October 8). Microeconomics [PowerPoint slides]. Quercus@UTM. https://q.utoronto.ca
Statistics Canada. (2026, September 23). Canada's population estimates, second quarter 2026. The Daily. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/260923/dq260923b-eng.htm
Tamtik, M., & Guenter, M. (2019). Policy analysis of equity, diversity and inclusion strategies in Canadian universities – How far have we come? Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 49(3), 41–56. https://doi.org/10.47678/cjhe.v49i3.188529
In the text: (Conboy, 2017); Tamtik and Guenter (2019) in a sentence, (Tamtik & Guenter, 2019) in brackets; (Statistics Canada, 2026); (Smith, 2019).
How do you cite in Chicago, MLA and ASA at U of T?
The rules that differ from APA, from the UTM Library's quick guides and the sociology department's ASA guide.
Chicago author-date
The UTM Library's Chicago (Author-Date) Quick Guide (University of Toronto Mississauga Library, 2026a) follows the 18th edition: no comma before the year, as in (Borgatti et al. 2018, 15); up to six authors in the list, and past six the first three and et al.; no place of publication; no page range for a chapter. Two examples need care: Corbae and Quintin's points to a JSTOR address behind the U of T login, though its DOI, 10.1086/677349, opens for anyone, and Fountain's New York Times article is dated June 6, where its address and the APA guide give 17 June. See our Chicago author-date guide.
MLA 9, the UofT MLA citation form
The UTM Library's MLA Citation Quick Guide (University of Toronto Mississauga Library, 2025) uses et al. from three authors, as in (Bear et al. 284). A library database is a second container, after a full stop: "pp. 333–50. Project Muse, https://doi.org/10.1353/jhi.2011.0020." An access date is optional, but add one when a page shows no date.
ASA for UTM Sociology
Baker (2023) sets (Lastname Year:Page), with no space after the colon; three authors in full at first citation, then et al.; full first names, no "&", a DOI when there is one, and no access date unless the page changes often.
Which EdCitation style is closest, and what do you change by hand?
The same style where EdCitation builds it, and Chicago author-date for ASA. Our runs on 2 October 2026 called for these changes:
| U of T asks for | Closest EdCitation style | Change by hand |
|---|---|---|
| APA 7 | APA 7 | Lower "Democratic Market Society" in Conboy's title; restore "Newton", printed "newton"; enter the agency as author for a Statistics Canada page |
| MLA 9 | MLA 9 | Replace the comma after the pages with a full stop and add the database, as above |
| Chicago 18 author-date | Chicago 18 author-date | Nothing for Corbae and Quintin; keep the DOI, not a library link |
| ASA 7, UTM Sociology | Chicago 18 author-date | "18 (10): 1263–76" becomes "18(10):1263-1276"; add "Statistics Canada." after The Daily's date; pages after a colon in the text |
| IEEE, Vancouver | IEEE, Vancouver | Not compared in our runs; check against the guide your course names |
| Chicago notes and bibliography, McGill Guide, CSE, ACS, AIAA, SAE, AMA | None | Write by hand from the department's guide |
What did Cite a source and Verify references return?
EdCitation is the best free tool for a U of T reference list because it looks every entry up and never writes one, and the slips above show why that matters. The libraries' Citation Guides page lists generators that build an entry from details you type in (University of Toronto Libraries, 2026d); Cite a source starts from the publisher's record instead, from a DOI, title, PubMed ID, ISBN or web address, sets it in six styles, and screens the source for retraction, free and with no account. EdCitation never writes any part of a paper: it finds, cites and checks the sources, and every sentence stays yours.
Cite a source on five real sources
Conboy's DOI as printed returned "No record exists for DOI 10.1080/1461670X.2017.13369355." The title search offered the right DOI, which gave in APA:
Conboy, M. (2017). Journalism and the Democratic Market Society: Decline and fall? Journalism Studies, 18(10), 1263–1276. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2017.1336935
"Democratic Market Society" kept its capitals in two runs; lower them by hand. Tamtik and Guenter's DOI gave the U of T entry above word for word, comma and DOI included:
Tamtik, M., & Guenter, M. (2019). Policy analysis of equity, diversity and inclusion strategies in Canadian universities – How far have we come? Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 49(3), 41–56. https://doi.org/10.47678/cjhe.v49i3.188529
For 10.1353/jhi.2011.0020, MLA gave:
Grosholz, Emily. “Reference and Analysis: The Representation of Time in Galileo, Newton, and Leibniz.” Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 72, no. 3, July 2011, pp. 333–50, https://doi.org/10.1353/jhi.2011.0020.
For the UTM form, end the pages with a full stop and add "Project Muse,". APA and Vancouver printed "Galileo, newton, and Leibniz" in two runs: restore the capital. For 10.1086/677349, Chicago author-date matched the UTM example, with the DOI for the library link:
Corbae, Dean, and Erwan Quintin. 2015. “Leverage and the Foreclosure Crisis.” Journal of Political Economy 123 (1): 1–65. https://doi.org/10.1086/677349.
The Statistics Canada page's own details named the author "Government of Canada, S. C." and put "The Daily" before the title. Corrected in the form, APA gave the worked example's entry word for word. No retraction was reported.
Verify references on the library's own APA examples
We pasted five of the UTM guide's APA entries, exactly as printed, into Verify references:
- Conboy: "check this", with "No registry holds the DOI 10.1080/1461670X.2017.13369355. The work is on record with the DOI 10.1080/1461670x.2017.1336935."
- Tamtik and Guenter: verified, "Title, year and first author match a published record." The record matched carries the DOI; add it.
- Weaver: verified, "The DOI resolves to this record and the title matches." Fix the editor's name by hand.
- World Health Organization: verified, "The page is at this address, and its title matches."
- Dornstauder and Chorney: "not found", with "No publisher's or registry's record matches this reference." The article is real: PHE Canada publishes it on its own site. With that address added, it came back verified: "The page is at this address, and its title matches."
Open every "not found" yourself before you drop it. For a whole paper, Pro at $8 a month adds References from a file, which matches every in-text citation to the list; see pricing.
How do you build a U of T reference list, step by step?
- Find the style in your course outline or syllabus, and ask if it names none. EdCitation's free Check your paper reads assignment instructions into a checklist, citation style included.
- Find sources in LibrarySearch or in Find sources, which searches about 300 million published works.
- Build each entry in Cite a source from its DOI, ISBN or web address. LibrarySearch's citation icon gives an entry too; check it the same way.
- Make the hand changes in the table above, and write Quercus slides, personal communications and AI use from U of T's templates.
- Paste the list into Verify references, settle every "check this", and open every "not found" yourself.
Quick questions
What is the U of T citation style?
None for the whole university: your course sets it. U of T's pages name APA 7 for nursing, psychology, management and economics, MLA or footnotes for the humanities, and IEEE for engineering.
Does the University of Toronto use APA 7?
Yes, in many faculties. The Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing requires APA 7, and the Rotman, psychology and UTM economics guides point students to APA.
Where is the UofT MLA citation guide?
The UTM Library's MLA Citation Quick Guide, on its Citing Your Sources page, follows the 9th edition.
Can EdCitation build U of T Chicago style footnotes?
No. EdCitation's Cite a source builds Chicago 18 in author-date form only, so history and music footnotes are written by hand from the department's guide.
How do I cite Quercus slides in APA at U of T?
Give the lecturer, the date, the title in italics, [PowerPoint slides], Quercus and the login page's address, as the UTM Library's APA guide sets out.
References
- Baker, J. (2023). ASA style guide: Seventh edition (2022) for UTM Sociology and Criminology, Law & Society students [PDF]. University of Toronto Mississauga. https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/ld.php?content_id=36847547
- Conboy, M. (2017). Journalism and the democratic market society: Decline and fall? Journalism Studies, 18(10), 1263–1276. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2017.1336935
- Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing. (2026). Academic policies, procedures & regulations. Master of Nursing Handbook, University of Toronto. https://www.bloomberg.nursing.utoronto.ca/master-of-nursing-handbook/sessional-dates/
- Procter, M. (n.d.). Standard documentation formats. Writing Advice, University of Toronto. https://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/using-sources/documentation/
- Statistics Canada. (2026, September 23). Canada's population estimates, second quarter 2026. The Daily. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/260923/dq260923b-eng.htm
- Tamtik, M., & Guenter, M. (2019). Policy analysis of equity, diversity and inclusion strategies in Canadian universities – How far have we come? Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 49(3), 41–56. https://doi.org/10.47678/cjhe.v49i3.188529
- University of Toronto Libraries. (2026a). APA style. Cite It Right: Academic Integrity at the Rotman School of Management. https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/c.php?g=250462&p=1670709
- University of Toronto Libraries. (2026b). APA style (7th ed.). Psychology. https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/c.php?g=250740&p=5083237
- University of Toronto Libraries. (2026c). Chicago-style citations for music students. https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/chicagostyle
- University of Toronto Libraries. (2026d). Citation guides. Citing Sources / Create Your Bibliography. https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/c.php?g=251103&p=1673071
- University of Toronto Libraries. (2026e). Citation styles. Citing Sources / Create Your Bibliography. https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/c.php?g=251103&p=5248740
- University of Toronto Libraries. (2026f). Citing artificial intelligence (AI). Citing Sources / Create Your Bibliography. https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/citing/AI
- University of Toronto Libraries. (2026g). Citing sources / Create your bibliography. https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/citing
- University of Toronto Libraries. (2026h). Citing treaties. Treaty Research. https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/c.php?g=250542&p=1671014
- University of Toronto Libraries. (2026i). Writing & citing in engineering. https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/writeciteengineering
- University of Toronto Mississauga Library. (2023). APA citation quick guide [PDF]. https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/ld.php?content_id=34509169
- University of Toronto Mississauga Library. (2025). MLA citation quick guide [PDF]. https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/ld.php?content_id=34509176
- University of Toronto Mississauga Library. (2026a). Chicago (author-date) citation quick guide [PDF]. https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/ld.php?content_id=34509173
- University of Toronto Mississauga Library. (2026b). Citing sources. Economics Resources at the UTM Library. https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/c.php?g=714202&p=5091477
- University of Toronto Mississauga Library. (2026c). Citing sources. History Resources at the UTM Library. https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/HIS-UTML/citing-sources
- University of Toronto Mississauga Library. (2026d). Citing your sources. Reference Help at the UTM Library. https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/ReferenceUTML/REFCitations