Citation Help

Whenever you use someone else's words or ideas in your paper or presentation, you must indicate that this information is borrowed by citing your source. This applies to written sources you've used, such as books, articles and web pages, as well as other formats, such as images, sounds, TV/film clips, and DVDs.  

Citations are a short way to uniquely identify a published work (e.g. book, article, chapter, web site).  They are found in papers as in-text, footnotes, bibliographies, reference lists, and work cited pages and are also collected in article and book databases.

Citation is an important part of the research process because...

1. It allows you to give proper credit for the ideas of others and avoid plagiarism.
2. It allows others to identify and locate the materials used in your work. Many readers rely on citations to identify other relevant literature on a topic.
3. It demonstrates the depth of your research showing that you have read and engaged the relevant literature on your topic. This indicates that you have an informed understanding of your subject and enhances the credibility of your findings.

Whenever you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or otherwise refer to the work of another, you must cite the source using either a parenthetical citation (an in-text citation), footnote, or endnote. In addition, a References page or Works Cited page is almost always placed at the end of your paper.

• In-text citations are abbreviated citations that are in the body of the paper. They direct readers to the full bibliographic citations listed in your Works Cited or References list. In most cases, they include the author's last name, year, and page number for the information cited.
• Footnote citations is a reference to a source that appears at the bottom of a page within your paper.  It is indicated by using a superscript number or symbol, which corresponds to the full citation details listed in the footnote itself.  Footnotes list the author, title, and details of publication usually in that order. 
  • In addition, some footnotes can be used to elaborate on specific topics within the section using the superscripted number or symbol as a guide.