We cite our sources in academic work for two main reasons. First, we want to give credit to the creators of the information we’re using. Second, we want to preserve that information and give our readers an opportunity to easily find the exact source we used if they want to.
Credit to creators: All information has value. Someone took the time to research and collect the data, to write it down, to publish it, and to keep it updated so that researchers like you could use it to further your studies. All of that takes time, effort, expertise, and money. This means that information has value! As a result, we have to treat it just like we treat other things with value.
In the same way that you’d treat your friend’s car with care if you used it, we also need to treat other people’s information and academic work with care when we use it. That means accurately and fairly representing what it says, and always giving credit to the original owner.
Information Preservation: Citations allow our instructors and readers (and ourselves) to follow up on information we write about, check its accuracy, or get more detail.
If you’re writing a history paper and state that 3% of American men died in WW2, your readers might want more information about how many men that actually was, or how historians came up with that statistic. If you don’t cite the source you used to know that 3% of American men died in WW2, then your readers have no way to get further information on that fact.
There are two basic ways to properly cite sources in your writing:
In-text Citation refers to citations that are written right into the body of your paper or presentation, usually in parenthesis at the end of a sentence. In-text citations are usually shortened versions of the full citations that appear in the Works Cited section. Your instructor will tell you whether or not your assignments require in-text citation. Generally, if you are citing a specific piece of data or specific and unique idea that comes directly from one single source, you should use in-text citation to cite that source at the end of the sentence. As you move forward in your college career, you will get more comfortable with what sentences in your writing require in-text citation.
Works Cited sections are bibliographies, or lists of all the resources you used or quoted in your writing. They are usually found at the end of all academic writing. You should include all the resources you consulted during your research and writing, even if you don’t actually quote the source.
Any time you use more than four words in a row directly from a source, that sentence or phrase needs to have quote marks around it, and always must be cited.
Save quotations for important or meaningful information. When you don’t use quote marks, you have to paraphrase (put in your own words) the information from the source that you’re trying to write about.
A good rule of thumb: If you have any doubts about whether or not you should cite a source, always cite it. You'll never go wrong by citing too many sources, but can definitely get in trouble for not citing enough.
There are many citation “styles,” or formats, that determine exactly how and in what order we type the author, title, and publication information for our sources. The most common citation styles college students use are MLA and APA. Your instructors will always tell you what style they want you to use.
Citation styles are picky, detailed, and easy to get wrong. You have to be very careful and detailed when writing your citations. You have several options for figuring out how to cite your sources in the style your teacher wants.
1. Ask in the library for a “citation style guide” that will show you examples of how to cite all kinds of sources in every style. Librarians love to help people properly cite their sources!
2. Check to see if your source already has a citation in the library database. One benefit of using the library databases is that almost all the sources you’ll find there have citations already written for you that you can just copy and paste directly into your Works Cited. Always make sure you check these to be sure they’re accurate.
3. Use one of the many citation generators you can find online. Two good options are linked here:
NC State Citation Builder:
https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/citationbuilder/#/chapter/apa7
Purdue Owl Citation Machine: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/resources.html
4. Go directly to the official website for the style you need to use, and either follow its directions to write your own citation, or let it generate a citation for you.
All of the boxes below have resources for various styles you might need to use for your assignments at SPCC.
English 111 Citation Exercise
Complete the following citation worksheets:
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.