Accessibility is the ensuring that the curriculum materials are created with the intent of inclusion of all people. This includes understanding of various accessibility issues such as visual and auditory difficulties, especially in our print and online materials. For additional information, review the Curriculum and Instruction Department’s Considerations for Accessibility.

According to the U.S. Copyright Office, “Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works.” (para. 1)

See C&I Copyright Presentation and the AISD’s Employee Handbook for information on copyrighted materials. 

Why Cite Your Sources?

Citing your sources not only gives credit to the original author and adds some layer of copyright protection, but it also provides a trail for future writers to go find your source and use it in new versions of tests, documents, or resources in the event the original specialist is no longer working on that document. It also models ethical publication and research practices to teachers and students.

Why Cite Sources That Are In Public Domain?

Again, this provides a trail for others to use your sources. A primary source from 1815 might not be a problem for copyright protection, but knowing that it is a source from the Smithsonian Website might help to find it again in the event that a link is broken, an image becomes corrupted, unusable, etc.

How To Cite and Display Sources

• APA style should be used to cite all sources.

• There is a Google citation tool in Google Docs that can help you create citations or you can reference this list of common citations and switch out appropriate information for the specific source you are using.

• If you are using an image, graph, chart, etc, in a document, slideshow presentation, or test, you can create a text box, size it down to around 8-point type and paste in your citation there. This makes it unobtrusive, but anyone wanting to check can zoom in to read your citation.

  • GIfs and Memes are kind of weird, but here's a guide on how to cite them. (Most Memes and GIFS (pronounced JIFF) fall under fair use and aren't copyright protected)

• If you are using a passage of text for a test or in a resource, at the end of the text you can put the APA citation, change the font--perhaps italics--and size it down to 8 or so and leave your citation there.

• If you are using material generated using AI such as ChatGPT or Canva's Magic Tools you need to cite that as well. Treat them the same as any other image if it's an image or text if it's text. You can often ask ChatGPT to write a APA citation for the material it generates and just place that at the end of the passage.

  • Further Guidance on Citing AI--specifically ChatGPT is available on APA's Blog.

Examples of Citations in Resources and Assessments

• GIF in a Google Slides Presentation (From the C&I Copyright Info Presentation--how meta!)

• A passage in Edgugence that was used from TEKS Resource System-Assessment Creator

How do I determine if I can use a resource in my documents?

• Consult fair use flowchart for copyrighted materials.

• Check your team's list of copyrighted materials that you have paid for or received permission to link to post information from

  • RLA (needs linking--can't find the folder with actual permissions saved!)

  • Social Studies (LINK ME)

  • Math (LINK ME))

  • Science (LINK ME)