Citations

Why is citing important?

A citation is used to refer to a particular source of information such as a book, article, website, video, or interview. The use of a citation tells your reader that you have used specific information from another source in your work.

Citations include the information for the reader to find the original source of information. This is an important step in establishing credibility in your writing. It is necessary to avoid plagiarism.

Citations may look different, depending on what is being cited and which style is used to create them. Choose an appropriate style guide for your needs.

by NCSU Libraries

Citing:

  • shows your reader you have researched your idea

  • adds credibility to your work by showing that experts in the field support your thoughts

  • quoting oppositional thoughts demonstrates that you have thought about both sides of an issue

  • gives credit to other researchers and acknowledges their ideas

When should you cite?

You must provide a citation when:

  1. directly quoting a source

  2. paraphrasing

  3. borrowing an idea.

Citations are included in two sections of your paper/project. The full citation is included in the bibliography (also known as the Reference page or Works Cited page). A shortened version, known as an in-text citation or footnote, is included in the text of your paper/project.

For more information on how to cite, please see the MLA guide.

Owl Purdue "Should I Cite This?"

Created by Cardiff University Informmation Services. Used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

Integrating sources - Quotations/Paraphrasing

Quotations

A quotation is directly copying a group of words that were written or said by someone else.

  • Use quotations sparingly. Your paper should be in your voice and present your arguments and understanding of a topic. Quotation are used to provide evidence to support an argument.

    • One must also put enclose material directly copied from a source with quotation marks ("") regardless of the number of words copied.

    • Provide an in-text citation.

  • Short quotations are added directly to the text of the essay. Long quotations, however, are introduced in the text but the quotation is put into a block format.

Paraphrasing

A paraphrase is rewording, or putting into your own words, something someone else has said or written. the words are yours but the concepts still originated with someone else. So, it is important to indicate in a paragraph where your ideas end and the borrowed ideas begin.

  • A paraphrase should be in your own words, style, and sentence structure.

    • Mark the beginning of the paraphrase with a signal phrase.

    • Include a citation at the end of the paraphrase.

NoodleTools

  • A great tool for taking notes and creating citations for footnotes and bibliographies.

Important: All students and staff must create a personal account in order to use NoodleTools. Ask a librarian if you need help.

To revalidate your account, look on mySJR for our school/library username and password.