Introduction to Citations and Bibliographic Writing Formats

One of the main functions of doing research is to study what others have published to help you critically think and form your own opinions. When you quote people -- or even when you summarize or paraphrase information found in books, articles or Web pages -- you must acknowledge the original author. Big 6 Step #4 Information Seeking Strategies

If you do not, it is Plagiarism.

Plagiarism is stealing other people’s ideas, words, designs, etc, and passing them off as your own.

Plagiarism includes copying text or pictures from Web pages or other sources and pasting it into your paper without identifying the original author.

How Can You Avoid Plagiarism? Take clear, accurate notes about where you found specific ideas. (note cards, note paper,etc) Use quotation marks when directly stating another person's words. Interpret (Write, summarize, in your own words.) Always credit original authors /artists for their information and ideas. Write down the complete citation information for each item you use on a labeled separate page. (Use Citation Data Sheet)

Citing Your Sources. To cite simply means to list. Sources are those documents you used to retrieve your information: Books, magazine/newspaper articles, web sites, pictures, primary documents, interviewees, etc.

Citing Sources Psst. Here’s where I got my information.

(Citing a source) means giving credit to the authors and sources you used to write your paper.

The page where you write down every source you used to make your report, paper or project is called a Bibliography or Works Cited Page and It is generally the last page of your report. A completed Work Cited Page looks like this.

Your completed page should look like this: Title Alphabetical order Double space between citations 2 nd line of each citation indented.

Your completed page should look like this: Title Alphabetical order Double spaced 2 nd line of each citation indented.

Citing Sources It can be difficult to figure out what needs to be cited (credited).

You should cite: books, articles, pictures, charts, Illustrations, tables, web sites, primary documents. What Do I Cite?

All other information such as music, graphs, quotations, statistics, and ideas should always be cited in your papers.

Use this rule: If you knew a piece of information before you started doing research, generally you do not need to credit it. You also do not need to cite well-known facts, such as dates, which can be found in many encyclopedias (this includes electronic encyclopedias). You do NOT cite search engines. (ex.Google,Yahoo, etc.)

There are many written formats of citing sources, however, the most common and frequently used are: The MLA format (Modern Language Association) The APA format (American Psychological Association) The Chicago format (Univ. of Chicago) The written format of all citations are very specific. Words, order and punctuation are very, very important.

MLA format For Books ( one author) Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Title of Book. City of Publication : Name of Publisher, Date of Publication. Example: Fradin, Dennis. The Adventures of Polar Bears. New York : Prentice Hall Publishers, 2005.

Example: White, Joseph. “Richard E. Byrd” World Book. Vol 5. Chicago: World Book Publishing, For print encyclopedias: Author’s last name, Author’s first name. “Title of article”. Name of Encyclopedia. Vol #. City of Publication: Name of Publisher, Date. MLA format

For computer sources: Company/author’s last name, Company/Author’s first name.“ Title of webpage ”. Name of website. Institution or Organization. Date of Access or update. Example: Montague, Richard. " Richard Evelyn Byrd ". Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 11/20/2009. MLA format

Artist, if available. “Description or title of image.” Date of image. Type of image Title of larger site, book, or magazine. Date of download. Smith, Greg. “Rhesus Monkey”. No date. Online image. Monkey Picture Gallery. 3 May For Pictures MLA format

A Guide just for you. Pay close attention to layout, format, and punctuation

Note Quotation marks and underlines. URL means web address.

Before you Forget Take citation notes

Before you Forget Take citation notes

Some common citation generators for the Duh, duhs. Citation Wizard Citefast.com Knightcite Citation Service Duuuuh! I don’t have a clue.

Do not become too dependent on these generators. Learn to do this yourself. You will not have a generator to use on a test, like the SAT, ACT, and others.