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Why is it important to cite the resources you use?

Most academic papers and projects require you to gather, evaluate and use the work of others. When you draw upon the work of others, even if your professor doesn't tell you to cite your sources, you must give proper credit. Failure to do so results in plagiarism. Any source you get information from whether it is an interview with a person, a pamphlet from a government office, a web page, a journal article, a book, etc. requires a citation. When you use that sources' information, you must give them credit; if you don't you, you are plagiarizing. If you learn a few basic rules, you can quickly format your papers in accordance with the style required for your course:

• Know what needs to be documented.
  • If you use an author's specific words in a direct quote, document it.
  • If you use your own words, but you obtained the information or idea from a source, document it.
• Material considered common knowledge by the general public or within the field of study doesn't need to be documented. These are generally factual information such as the starting date of World War I and are considered to be in the public domain. Common field-specific knowledge may include facts, theories or methods that are familiar to readers within that discipline. 

Avoiding Plagiarism - from the University of California, Davis.

Guide to Plagiarism and Cyber-Plagiarism - from the University of Alberta Libraries.

When using the library's research databases, many (such as Academic Search Premier, ERIC, and Education Journals) provide the option to place the document's citation information into the the style format of your choice when you go to print, save or email it. Remember to select the format style your professor requires you can save yourself some time. For online resources that don't have this option and when citing from print resources, print and online style manuals are available for each of the different formats. The most common formats are:

• AMA: American Medical Association - The style recommended by the American Medical Association (AMA) is often used for scholarly writing about medicine or health-related topics, or about other subjects in the sciences.
  
  
• APA: American Psychological Association - In the Social Sciences, APA is used for in-text citations that refer readers to a list of references. An in-text citation gives the author of the source (often in a signal phrase), the date of publication, and at times a page number in parentheses. At the end of the paper, a list of references provides publication information about the source; the list is alphabetized by authors' last names (or by titles for works without authors.
  
  
• Chicago/Turabian - In history and some humanities classes, you may be required to include footnotes or endnotes based on The Chicago Manual of Style. When you use Chicago-style notes, you will usually be asked to include a bibliography at the end of your paper.
  
  
• CSE: Council of Science Editors - Most biologists, zoologists, earth scientists, geneticists, and other scientists use one of three systems of documentation specified by the Council of Science Editors in Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (name-year system, citation-sequence system or citation-name system).
  
  
• MLA: Modern Language Association - In English and in some humanities classes, you may be asked to use the MLA (Modern Language Association) system for documenting sources.
  

Just Beginning your research and want to manage citations from databases and the web to easily share or add to your research papers? Try RefWorks. If this is your first time using RefWorks, you may want to refer to our shortcut guide. 

Not sure how to cite a resource? Refer to one of the style manuals available below or contact the Gallucci-Cirio Library and Ask A Librarian!

Writing Center at Fitchburg State College - Need additional help? Contact the Writing Center. They will work together with writers at all levels, in all stages of the writing process, and in all areas of study.