Research Strategies: Citations

Why Cite Your Sources?

There are many reasons to cite the sources you use for any research assignment, whether it is a paper or presentation. Following is a list of these reasons and explanations for why citing properly is so important.

Acknowledging Others' Work

When you acknowledge an author's work, you are giving them credit for their own original ideas, research, and effort. You should always give credit to an author for their work. 

Maintaining Credibility

Citations show that you have researched your topic and you know what you are talking about. It also shows that you consulted credible sources during the research process.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism includes not citing your sources, or not citing your sources properly. Learning how and when to properly cite your sources will help you avoid plagiarism.

Finding Your Sources is Easier

The readers of your paper or audience of your speech can more easily find the sources you used. This is handy in the case that they need to verify the information you used, or if they just simply wish to learn more about the topic.

How to Cite

Citation styles provide you the rules for formatting your citations, the paper itself, and your works cited/reference page.

APA and MLA are the two most common citation styles, but there are many others, such as Chicago, Turabian, and ACS. Citation styles vary for each discipline. Check with your professor, or reference your course syllabus or assignment, to verify which style you should use.

Sources are typically worked into your paper or speech in the following ways:

1. Quoting -- this is when you copy a short passage from a source word for word, utilizing quotation marks around the copied text.
2. Paraphrasing -- this is when you use an idea from a source but put it into your own words. A paraphrased statement can be about as long as the original text.
3. Summarizing -- this is when you restate the main ideas of a source in your own words. A summary is usually shorter than the original text. 

When Do I Cite?

When writing a research paper, you need to cite:

• within the paper, using in-text citations, to reference the author's work or idea
• in the bibliography (or "reference list" / "works cited" page), which will contain the full citation for each source you used

When giving a speech or presentation, you need to cite:

• in the bibliography, just as you would when writing a paper
• in the speech outline, using in-text citations
• during the speech, utilizing verbal cues such as "according to...," etc.

The Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) is a fantastic resource for help with citing your sources if you are using APA (American Psychological Association), MLA (Modern Language Association), Chicago, or AMA (American Medical Association) styles. Detailed citation information for various types of works in a number of different formats is provided. The APA, MLA, and Chicago formatting and style guides are linked to below.

• APA Formatting and Style Guide
• MLA Formatting and Style Guide
• Chicago Formatting and Style Guide