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Academic Honesty & Plagiarism: Citing Sources

Citing Sources

"A "citation" is the way you tell your readers that certain material in your work came from another source. It also gives your readers the information necessary to find that source again, including: the author of the work, the title, the name and location of the company that published your copy of the source,the date your copy was published, the page numbers of the material you are borrowing."

(Source: Whittier College LibGuide "How to Cite": https://whittier.libguides.com/c.php?g=346305&p=2334853, Accessed on March 21, 2017)

Why Should I Cite Sources?

Giving credit to the original author by citing sources is the only way to use other people's work without plagiarizing. But there are a number of other reasons to cite sources:

  1. citations are extremely helpful to anyone who wants to find out more about your ideas and where they came from.
  2. not all sources are good or right -- your own ideas may often be more accurate or interesting than those of your sources. Proper citation will keep you from taking the rap for someone else's bad ideas.
  3. citing sources shows the amount of research you've done.
  4. citing sources strengthens your work by lending outside support to your ideas.

“What is Citation?” Plagiarism.org. Accessed February 27, 2020.

Online Resources

Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style Online provides recommendations on editorial style and publishing practices. The full contents of the 16th and 15th editions are included and are searchable.

Knight Cite
Citation generator for APA, Chicago Manual of Style, and MLA

Purdue Online Writing Lab
Citation sources for APA, Chicago Manual of Style, and MLA

 

 

Books in the Library