Beginning

• Understand your teacher's requirements for attributions and citations

• PRO-TIP: Cite any work you have directly quoted, paraphrased, or summarized ideas from

• PRO-TIP: Ask for a sample if you're unclear about expectations and one was not provided

During

• Keep track of EVERY source, even if you are not sure you will refer to it in your final paper/project

  • • Every article, website, video, image, podcast, etc.

    • Use a Google Doc, Sheet, or Keep note to store source information all in one place

      • • Online sources: Copy the URL AND the title for your records

        • Print books: Title, author, and ISBN number

    • PRO-TIP: Code your sources (author's name or a numbering system can work well) so you can code your notes. If you jot a statistic, fact, or quote in your notes, jot the source code next to it.

Finishing

• Make sure you have formatted your quotations and in-text citations properly

• Use a citation generator for help creating your Works Cited page

• Use the MLA DOCUMENT FORMATTING CHECKLIST for your final edit

• PRO-TIP: Ask your librarian for help! She really digs this stuff!

1. Establish your credibility & authority.

• Citation demonstrates that you have done your research and shows which sources you used in creating your work.

• Citation helps you show that you have not plagiarized your work, used copyrighted images, etc.

• Using quality sources means people will take your work seriously and that your ideas have support.

​2. Give credit to those who helped you.

• It is common courtesy to give credit where it's due.

• At school and in many professional settings, attribution/citation is an expected—and often required—practice.

• Acknowledging the works you build upon strengthens rather than diminishes your own work.

• Be classy! Take the time and make the effort to recognize the work of others you've used.

3. Inspire further learning.

• Citation provides your reader with more information about your sources.

• Your work can spark someone's curiosity. Your sources are a good starting point for them to explore!

• Does doubt your ideas? Checking out your sources may help them understand what you have shared.

• You can't include everything! When you cite what is relevant to your work, people can learn more by checking out the sources you cited.

Citation Station designed + written by Jen DeMonte MLIS (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)