Plagiarism / Doc Sources

Principles of Citing Sources

To Reflect the Intellectual Context

To Lead Us to Further Research

To Give Credit Where its Due

Knowing how and when to cite a work (i.e. insert a footnote or endnote) is the key to
avoiding plagiarism.
But citation is important for other reasons, too:

a) citations indicate how much research has gone into your paper. Frequent
citation can be a sign of a strong paper;

b) citation directs readers of your work to sources which may help them in their
own studies. Tothis extent citation is an academic courtesy that helps to further the
scholarly debate in which weare all involved.
Academic writing is conversation. Academic papers engage with previously
established ideas. They respond to these ideas and anticipate further responses to
sustain an ongoing dialogue, which is the basis for all academic discourse: "Every time
we consult a source, we join and by joining, sustain a conversation that may be
decades, even centuries old" (Booth, Colomb and Williams 12).
Types of Evidence Found Through Research
Facts
Statistical Evidence
Expert Testimony
Examples

Types of Academic Sources

Academic Journal Articles
Journal articles are the most common form of academic publication. Articles pushed in
academic journals are usually around 5000 words long and are reviewed by peers in the
field before they are accepted for publication. For this reason, journal articles are
considered the most credible and important form of academic publication. There are
several types of journal articles: research articles which present a new study, theoretical
articles which examine an issue without empirical research, and review articles which
summarize current research in a field.
Books or Monographs
Some academics also publish books or monographs that allow them to explore a topic
in more depth than in a journal article. Books are also considered credible academic

sources.
Trade/Professional Publications
In order to reach a broader audience, some academics will publish in trade or
professional journals related to their field. An editor reviews these articles, but they are
not peer reviewed and are considered less important than articles in academic journals.
Grey Literature
Some academic writing is not formally published. This writing is called grey literature.
For instance, academics often contribute to patent applications, technical reports, policy
recommendations, and working papers, but these are not published formally.
Textbooks
Textbooks are teaching tools that summarize current thinking in a field. Textbooks are
good for a broad overview of a topic, but they might not give a good sense of what
knowledge is under debate in a field. Read the footnotes and endnotes in your textbook
to find the primary sources of the information described. Reading these primary sources
might give you a better sense of the current debates in a field.

Occasions for Citing Sources1) When you quote two or more words verbatim, or even
one word if it is used in a way that is unique to the source.2) When you introduce facts
that you have found in a source.
3) When you paraphrase or summarize ideas, interpretations, or conclusions that you
find in a source.4) When you introduce information that is not common knowledge or
that may be considered common knowledge in your field, but the reader may not know
it.
5) When you borrow the plan or structure of a larger section of a sources argument (for
example, using a theory from a source and analyzing the same three case studies that
the source uses).6) When you build on anothers method found either in a source or
from collaborative work in a lab.7) When you build on anothers program or on a notcommonly-known algorithm in writing computer code.8) When you collaborate with
others in producing knowledge.

Some ways to avoid plagiarism:

Keep detailed records of your research; document your sources as you do your
research.

Keep thorough documentation of your writing; outlines and drafts of your paper
represent your effort as the paper evolves.

Cite all quotations.

Cite all sources you have either summarized or paraphrased.

Cite ideas that you have employed.

Cite information from sources such as speeches, interviews, photographs, films,

laboratory procedures, software programs, musical or dramatic compositions, audio or
visual media, works of art or architecture, maps, statistical tables, Web pages,

electronic databases or any other source that was created by someone else.
Incorporating Sources
When utilizing outside sources, be sure to integrate the information with your own ideas.
Although you may understand how a source supports or more fully clarifies your own
work, your audience needs you to explicitly explain these connections. Framing outside
information will make your work more effective and also help you avoid accidental
plagiarism:

Introduce the integrated work with a short sentence or phrase that contextualizes
the information for your reader.

Quote, Paraphrase, or Summarize the work, including proper in-text

documentation per citation style. Be sure to include all sources used in your Works
Cited page or Bibliography.

Comment on the work and how it relates to the argument or information you are
presenting. This will help your reader understand how you interpret the work you are
citing and its relationship to your own ideas.
Generally speaking, you should credit all sources in your research, using the citation
style appropriate to your field (e.g. MLA, APA, Chicago Style, etc.) whether you quote
directly, paraphrase, or summarize what you have read.

Quoting: a short passage of the original authors exact words inside quotation
marks

Paraphrasing: a segment of someone elses work that you have put into your
own words

Summarizing: presenting the overall idea of a work condensed into a compact

format

How to Paraphrase
General Advice
1.
When reading a passage, try first to understand it as a whole, rather than
pausing to write down specific ideas or phrases.
2.
Be selective. Unless your assignment is to do a formal or literal paraphrase,*
you usually dont need to paraphrase an entire passage; instead, choose and
summarize the material that helps you make a point in your paper.
3.
Think of what your own words would be if you were telling someone whos
unfamiliar with your subject (your mother, your brother, a friend) what the original
source said.
4.
Remember that you can use direct quotations of phrases from the original within
your paraphrase, and that you dont need to change or put quotation marks around
shared language (see box above).

What You Must Document

Quotations
1. If you use an author's specific word or words, you must place those words within
quotation marks and you must credit the source.
Information and Ideas
2. Even if you use your own words, if you obtained the information or ideas you are
presenting from a source, you must document the source.
Information: If a piece of information isnt common knowledge (see #3 below), you need
to provide a source.
Ideas: An authors ideas may include not only points made and conclusions drawn, but,
for instance, a specific method or theory, the arrangement of material, or a list of steps
in a process or characteristics of a medical condition. If a source provided any of these,
you need to acknowledge the source.
Common Knowledge
3. You do not need to cite a source for material considered common knowledge:
General common knowledge is factual information considered to be in the public
domain, such as birth and death dates of well-known figures, and generally accepted
dates of military, political, literary, and other historical events. In general, factual
information contained in multiple standard reference works can usually be considered to
be in the public domain.
Field-specific common knowledge is common only within a particular field or specialty.
It may include facts, theories, or methods that are familiar to readers within that
discipline. For instance, you may not need to cite a reference to Piagets developmental
stages in a paper for an education class or give a source for your description of a
commonly used method in a biology reportbut you must be sure that this information is
so widely known within that field that it will be shared by your readers.
If in doubt, be cautious and cite the source. And in the case of both general and fieldspecific common knowledge, if you use the exact words of the reference source, you
must use quotation marks and credit the source.

When Citation is NOT Necessary In some cases, you may not need to cite a source,
for instance, when referring to your own personal experiences or thoughts, original
research you have conducted yourself, or when you use common knowledge or widely
accepted facts. What constitutes common knowledge may vary widely, but is generally
considered to be a fact that is easily accessible and consistent across many sources.
However, if you directly quote information, even if it is about common knowledge, you
must still cite that source. Generally speaking, when in doubt, cite the source.
Examples of common knowledge include:

The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776.

The Earth is the third planet from the Sun.

The chemical formula for water is H2O.

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Treasure Island.

Generally, APA citations require some or all of the following bibliographic data:
Author Title Publication year Publication month and date
Publisher City and state of publication
Page or paragraph numbers

One authorLast, F. M.
Two authorsLast, F. M., & Last, F. M.
Three to seven authors
Last, F. M., Last, F. M., & Last, F. M.
Seven or more authors
Last, F. M., Last, F. M., Last, F. M., Last, F. M., Last, F. M., Last, F. M., . . . Last, F. M.