Citing Sources

It's very important to cite your sources. Just remember that anything you read or watch (yes, even online) was created by someone. You may never meet them, but it's still good to give them credit for their work! Citing your sources boosts your credibility, helps people track down your information, and prevents you from plagiarizing.

What is Citing Sources?

Citing sources involves sharing information about the original source or location of something. In academic writing, citing sources usually involves adding some documentation or a note in your paper that credits the original author. It also shares important information about the source such as the author, title, publisher's name, copyright date, and page number of the part you used.

Information paraphrased from http://www.plagiarism.org/citing-sources/whats-a-citation/ (See? That's a citation!)

Why is citing sources important?

There are many reasons for citing your sources when you do research. According to the book, The Research Virtuoso, we cite sources in order:

to be honest about where our work and ideas come from;
to build trust between ourselves and our readers;
to avoid plagiarizing someone else's work; and
to help future researchers trace our information back to the source (Toronto Public Library, 85).

If you're still uncertain about why citing sources is important, you can check here for more information. For more information about plagiarism, visit here and here.

Which citation style are you using?

Modern Language Association (MLA) Style

The citation style of the Modern Language Association--more commonly known as "MLA style"--is a method of citing sources that is commonly used in the humanities disciplines, particularly in writing and literature courses. It is also used commonly by high school and middle school classes. MLA style features short parenthetical in-text citations and a Works Cited page at the end of a paper or project.

A sample MLA citation for a book, as it would appear in a Works Cited looks like this:

Alexie, Sherman. Reservation Blues. New York: Grove Press, 1995. Print.

Visit the following websites to help you with creating citations and Works Cited pages in MLA style.

American Psychological Association (APA) Style

APA is the style of documentation of sources used by the American Psychological Association. This form of writing research papers is used mainly in the social sciences, like psychology, anthropology, sociology, as well as education and other fields (Lorenz).

Visit the following websites to help you with creating citations and Works Cited pages in APA style.

Lorenz, Mariel. “What Is APA?” Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 28 Jan. 2005, www.iup.edu/writingcenter/writing-resources/research-and-documentation/apa-style/what-is-apa.html.