How to Cite Sources

How to Cite Sources for Social Studies Essays

 How to use in-text citation:

Using a direct quote from a document:

~You should always introduce the quote. Do not “plop” the quote into the middle of the paragraph without introducing it.

~You must surround the direct quote with quotation marks.

~The name of the author should go in parentheses, after the last quotation mark and before the period.

~If there use more than one document by the same author, then you need to put both the author’s last name AND the name of the document.

Example:

It was asked by the lead American prosecutor, Robert Jackson, that the defendants be considered innocent before proven guilty. He states, “Despite the fact that public opinion already condemns their acts, we agree that here they must be given a presumption of innocence, and we accept the burden of proving criminal acts and the responsibility of these defendants”(Jackson).

Paraphrasing:

~Paraphrasing means to restate someone else’s words in your own words.

~You may restate someone else’s words, but you must give that person credit for it in the in-text citations.

~You DO NOT need quotation marks.

~You give the original author’s name in the parentheses at the end of the sentence, but before the period.

Example:

Original Text: “It is a crime for Tehilirian to kill a man, but it is not a crime for his oppressor to kill more than a million men.” 

Paraphrased: Lemkin was confused at the fact that Tehilirian could be charged with the crime of killing one, but it was not a crime for Talaat to kill more than a million (Lemkin Sovereignty).

How to make a Works Cited list:

-at the very end of the paper, you need a SEPARATE page that says “Works Cited” at the top

-this page will be a list of ALL the documents you have used to write your journal entries

-there is a proper format that you need to follow...here is a website that you can use to make the works cited list: www.easybib.com or noodlebib.com

-the website will ask you for the author, the title of the document, the date it was published or created, and possibly the page number if the citation came out of a book.