How to Cite
Every work and every post on this site has a one-tap citation tool in the reader, in MLA, APA, and Chicago. The templates below are for the cases when you would rather build the reference by hand.
Citing the archive as a whole
When you want to cite the archive itself rather than a particular work, use these forms:
MLA 9
Ajinga, Jon, editor. Filthy Little Atheist: A Living Archive of Thomas Paine. 2026, filthylittleatheist.com. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.APA 7
Ajinga, J. (Ed.). (2026). Filthy Little Atheist: A living archive of Thomas Paine. https://filthylittleatheist.comChicago (notes & bibliography)
Ajinga, Jon, ed. Filthy Little Atheist: A Living Archive of Thomas Paine. 2026. https://filthylittleatheist.com.Citing the Conway Edition itself
The Conway Edition is the canonical print source. When you quote Paine, cite the original (1894-96) -- not this site -- unless the precise digital transcription matters to your argument.
MLA 9
Paine, Thomas. The Writings of Thomas Paine. Edited by Moncure D. Conway, 4 vols., G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1894-96.APA 7
Paine, T. (1894-96). The writings of Thomas Paine (M. D. Conway, Ed.; Vols. 1-4). G. P. Putnam's Sons.Chicago
Paine, Thomas. The Writings of Thomas Paine. Edited by Moncure D. Conway. 4 vols. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1894-96.Citing a specific work
Every work page has a citation generator built into the reader -- the Cite button in the tools tab -- that produces a clean reference in all three styles. It includes the year of original delivery, the volume, and the URL of the digital transcription.
If you would rather build the reference yourself, the general form is:
MLA 9
Paine, Thomas. "Title of Work." The Writings of Thomas Paine, edited by Moncure D. Conway, vol. X, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1894-96, pp. NN-NN. Filthy Little Atheist, filthylittleatheist.com/works/slug/. Accessed 2026.APA 7
Paine, T. (Year). Title of work. In M. D. Conway (Ed.), The writings of Thomas Paine (Vol. X, pp. NN-NN). G. P. Putnam's Sons. (Original work published Year). Retrieved from https://filthylittleatheist.com/works/slug/Chicago
Paine, Thomas. "Title of Work." In The Writings of Thomas Paine, edited by Moncure D. Conway, Vol. X, NN-NN. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1894-96. https://filthylittleatheist.com/works/slug/.Editorial commentary and blog posts
For my own essays at /blog/, cite the post the way you would any digital article: author, title, publication name (Filthy Little Atheist), date, URL. Each post has its own citation tool too.
Notes
- The site transcribes the 1894-96 Conway Edition. When the wording is in dispute, the print volume is authoritative, not me.
- I use Arabic numerals for volumes for legibility; most style guides accept either Arabic or Roman.
- "Year" in the templates above is the year the work was first delivered or written, not the year the Conway Edition was printed.