Citing Your Sources
A Citation Guide from the Elon Writing Center
So you're writing a paper, and your professor tells you to cite your sources...
Maybe you heard of citation styles like MLA and APA in high school, but you don't really remember how to use them. Maybe you're supposed to use a style you've never heard of before. Maybe you have the basic gist, but you're not super confident about the specifics. No matter what your situation is, this blog is a great place to get some answers.
Citing your sources isn't as complicated as it seems.
Follow these steps to get started.
Step 1: Know why you're doing this
Avoid Plagiarism
Before getting into how to cite your sources, it's a good idea to understand why. The basic answer is that you want to avoid plagiarism in your writing, which is using someone else's ideas or words without giving them credit. Universities take plagiarism very seriously, even if you do it by accident. Citations allow you to build off of information/ideas from your sources without plagiarizing; that's why they're so important. Read more about Elon's plagiarism policy here.
Keep in mind that even summarizing or paraphrasing someone else's idea without credit is plagiarizing. If you're concerned, read here for more detailed information about plagiarism.
Build credibility
A second answer is about your credibility, which is how trustworthy you appear. If you write about statistics, facts, or complex ideas in your paper but don't show where you learned them, someone might think you made them up (or got them from an untrustworthy source). Citing your sources is the way you show your professor (and whoever else reads your paper) that there is credible research backing up your ideas. It's also how you make it clear to your professor where your sources' ideas end and where your own analysis begins.
Step 2: Which citation style are you using?
What is a citation style?
A citation style is like a rulebook for citing your sources. It tells you how to format your paper (including title pages, page numbers, headings, etc.), how to format citations throughout the body of your paper (e.g. with "in-text citations" or with footnotes), and how to format your list of sources (i.e. your bibliography, your works cited page, or your references), among other things.
Which one should I use?
Common citation styles for college writers include MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychological Association), Chicago (Chicago Manual of Style or CMOS), and AP (Associated Press). A lot of times, your professor will tell you what citation style you should use for your assignments. If you aren't sure which style to use, it's a good idea to check with your professor.
Step 3: Learn about your citation style
Click on one of the four styles on the left to learn more about it.
In the descriptions of each citation style, you will find links to Purdue OWL for more information. Purdue OWL (the Online Writing Lab produced by Purdue University) is a great resource to help with many different citation styles. It offers sample papers and example citations to help with common sources (like websites, books, and journal articles) as well as less common sources (like videos, interviews, and pieces of art). Visit it here.
Keep in mind that citation styles go through updates (often called "editions"). The organizations behind citation styles put out new manuals every once in a while that may have important changes from earlier editions. If you ever come across descriptions of citation styles that contradict each other, it could be that the descriptions were written about different editions. It's a good idea to stick with the most recent edition, or stick with what your professor tells you.
Step 4: Make your citations and check them!
This citation guide is a resource put out by Elon University's Center for Writing Excellence.
At Elon's Writing Center (located on the first floor of Belk Library), you can schedule a 30 minute appointment with a consultant. Consultants are Elon students who have been trained to help other students succeed in their writing. We can assist you with any part of your paper-writing process and can focus on whatever you want to talk about. We hope that everyone feels welcome to come to the Writing Center and has a judgement-free experience.
If you want one-to-one help with citations or any other part of your paper-writing process, feel free to make an appointment with a Writing Center consultant here.
Once you have cited your sources, it's a good idea to check them and make sure you followed the correct format. One good way to check your citations is by comparing them to sample papers. Sample papers are linked on the pages for each style.
You can also think about installing Zotero, which is a citation software recommended by Elon University to help you keep track of and cite your sources. Learn more about Zotero here. That link will lead you to a page where you can learn how to download, use, and troubleshoot issues with Zotero.
