ENG 112

We know there are three main reasons to cite our sources: 

1. To give proper credit to the people who created the information that was used to produce our new work.
2. To preserve the information and lead readers of our new work to the sources we used for the benefit of bridging & furthering research.
3. Because committing plagiarism would compromise our grades, taint your academic reputation, and could get us into legal trouble for violating intellectual property ​​​​​​​laws. 

One of the main reasons we cite sources is because there is value to the information we get from our sources, and we need to give the creators of those sources credit for that value. 

Another reason we cite sources is to protect us legally. The law recognizes information as something that can be owned, bought, and sold, and therefore as something that can be stolen. Using someone’s information without their permission and without giving credit is considered stealing it. 

Intellectual property is the concept of ownership of information that can be bought or sold. The law protects intellectual property with concepts like copyright, patents, fair use, open access, and public domain. You don't need to worry too much about the specifics of these laws, but you should be familiar with what they mean.

Copyright: the exclusive legal right that belongs to the creator to print, perform, copy, or publish information that she creates. Simply put, it means that only the person who creates information has the right to reproduce it. 

Patent: the exclusive legal right that belongs to the inventor to recreate something he invented. Patents are similar to copyright, except that they usually involve engineering, science, or technology.

Trademark: a symbol or word that is registered by a company to represent that company and cannot be reproduced by anyone except that company.

Public Domain: creative materials that are not protected by copyright, trademark, or patent laws and are therefore free for any type of use. This usually happens when materials are very old or obsolete. Oh 

Fair Use: the policy that brief excerpts (in quotes) of copyright material may sometimes be used without the permission of its creator for certain purposes, like criticism, news reporting, teaching, and research. Fair use is what allows us to use other sources in our own writing. 

Open Access: the practice of allowing free and completely open internet access to material that might otherwise be copyrighted at the request of the creator. Open Access is a relatively new idea that is becoming increasingly common in the academic world. While you may not be legally required to cite OA sources, academic ethics and standards still require that you do.

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Below you will find an APA Style Brief Guide, which gives you examples for how to format sources in your references list. Additionally, you will find an APA Style Packet, which gives you information on how to format your paper and your references list, as well as other helpful information like how to incorporate quotes and figures. 

Below you will find an MLA Style Brief Guide, which gives you examples for how to format sources in your references list. Additionally, you will find an MLA Style Packet, which gives you information on how to format your paper and your references list, as well as other helpful information like how to incorporate quotes and figures.