What is citation?
Citation is a way of giving credit to individuals when you use their words or ideas to support your research. Citations have enough information that a reader can find the exact source you used. Typically, this citation information includes the author's name, publication date, and other source information.
Citation styles are standardized ways to format citations. The citation style will determine exactly what information is necessary for a citation as well as how that information is presented, including punctuation and other formatting.
Your instructor will usually tell you what citation style is required for your assignment. The citation style often depends on the academic subject area. For example:
- APA (American Psychological Association) style is often used by Nursing, Education, Psychology, and the Sciences
- MLA (Modern Language Association) style is often used by the Humanities, such as English
- Chicago style is often used by History and Fine Arts
Text adapted from University of Pittsburgh (with permission). Graphic by RDP Library (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
Why do I need to cite my sources?
Citation is a way of giving credit when you use someone else’s words or ideas. Good citation demonstrates appreciation and respect for the work of others.
Proper citation also strengthens your own work. By citing your work, you are demonstrating that your conclusions are based on research.
Citing sources is an important part of the academic process because:
- Your instructor needs to know what parts of the work are your original thoughts, ideas, and research.
- Your readers need to know where to locate the source to read it themselves.
Watch this short video (1:12) by Dr. Sean Zwagerman that explains why it is important to cite your sources:
Common Error - Paraphrasing (or Summarizing) without Citation
About this Error
Paraphrasing or summarizing without citation occurs when a writer changes the words of an original source, but uses the ideas in it without acknowledging that those ideas are not their original thoughts, even if the writer adds their own "spin" to the original.
Example
New classical economics. The original theoretical impetus was the charge that Keynesian economics lacks microeconomic foundations -- i.e. its assertions are not founded in basic economic theory. This school emerged during the 1970s. This school asserts that it does not make sense to claim that the economy at any time might be "out-of-equilibrium". Fluctuations in aggregate variables follow from the individuals in the society continuously re-optimizing as new information on the state of the world is revealed.
(Source: "Macroeconomics." Wikipedia. 18 Aug. 2005. 31 Aug. 2005. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macroeconomics)
Scholars in the school of new classical economics, which emerged in the 1970s, focus on the belief that the school of Keynesian economics is misguided. New classical scholars assert that the economy is never unbalanced, as Keynesian scholars believe, but instead that changes in an economy result from people's changing their spending habits as they interpret the news about the world.
Yes, this is plagiarism!
In this example, the student has adequately paraphrased the source material, but the draft is based almost completely on the ideas they discovered in the source. The student has not acknowledged that the notion of the difference between new classical economics and Keynesian economics was derived wholly from another author's ideas. Since there is no acknowledgement of the original idea, this constitutes plagiarism.Correcting the Error
To eliminate this type of plagiarism, you must include a citation within the sentences that include material derived from a source. This in-text citation may be formatted as footnotes, endnotes, or parentheses, depending on the citation style.
According to the article "Macroeconomics" on Wikipedia.org, scholars in the school of new classical economics, which emerged in the 1970s, focus on the belief that the school of Keynesian economics is misguided. New classical scholars assert that the economy is never unbalanced, as Keynesian scholars believe, but instead that changes in an economy result from people's changing their spending habits as they interpret the news about the world.
Common Error - Insufficient Citation of a Paraphrase (or Summary)
About this Error
Changing the words of an original source and using the author's ideas with attempts to acknowledge the material's source(s), but without correct or adequate citation, is considered insufficient citation of paraphrase.
Example
In classical music of the last 35 years, the term minimalism is sometimes applied to music which displays some or all of the following features: repetition (often of short musical phrases, with minimal variations over long periods of time) or stasis (often in the form of drones and long tones); emphasis on consonant harmony; a steady pulse. It is almost inseparable, currently, from electronic music and composition.
Apart from Philip Glass, Steve Reich is arguably the most famous minimalist composer, with John Coolidge Adams also being notable. Following the classical compositions of Philip Glass, the Chicago House scene in the late 1990s saw a major revolution with the advent of the ghettotech single "Time for the Perculator" by Cajmere, which was decidedly more minimalistic in its outlook.
(Source: "Minimalist Music." Wikipedia. 22 Aug. 2005. 31 Aug. 2005 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalist_music)
According to an article on Wikipedia.org, musical minimalism has evolved since the 1970s to incorporate repetition, long notes, and a consistent beat into what people now commonly call electronic music. Since the late 1990s, it has revolutionized even electronic music by bringing about "ghettotech" in the music culture known as "Chicago House." Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and John Coolidge Adams are musical minimalism's minimalism's most well-known composers.
Yes, this is plagiarism!
In this example, the student has adequately paraphrased the source material, but has based their draft almost completely on the ideas from another source. The student has acknowledged that the ideas about musical minimalism were derived wholly from another author's ideas, but has failed to cite their source adequately.
Correcting the Error
To eliminate this type of plagiarism, you must include a citation within the sentences that include material derived from a source. This in-text citation may be formatted as footnotes, endnotes, or parentheses, depending on the citation style.
According to an article on Wikipedia.org, musical minimalism has evolved since the 1970s to incorporate repetition, long notes, and a consistent beat into what people now commonly call electronic music. Since the late 1990s, it has revolutionized even electronic music by bringing about "ghettotech" in the music culture known as "Chicago House" (Wikipedia "Minimalist Music"). Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and John Coolidge Adams are musical minimalism's most well-known composers.
Credit your source...
Graphic by Sara LeBlanc, University of Waterloo (CC BY-NC 4.0)
