What is citation?

A "citation" is the way you tell your readers that certain material in your work came from another source. It also gives your readers the information necessary to find that source again, including:

• information about the author
• the title of the work
• the name and location of the company that published your copy of the source
• the date your copy was published
• the page numbers of the material you are borrowing

Why cite sources?

Whenever you quote or base your ideas on another person's work, you must document the source you used. Even when you do not quote directly from another work, if reading that source contributed to the ideas presented in your paper, you must give the authors proper credit.

Citations allow readers to locate and further explore the sources you consulted, show the depth and scope of your research, and give credit to authors for their ideas. Citations provide evidence for your arguments and add credibility to your work by demonstrating that you have sought out and considered a variety of resources. In written academic work, citing sources is standard practice and shows that you are responding to this person, agreeing with that person, and adding something of your own. Think of documenting your sources as providing a trail for your reader to follow to see the research you performed and discover what led you to your original contribution.

When do I need to cite?

Whenever you borrow words or ideas, you need to acknowledge their source. The following situations almost always require citation:

• Whenever you use quotes
• Whenever you paraphrase
• Whenever you use an idea that someone else has already expressed
• Whenever you make specific reference to the work of another
• Whenever someone else's work has been critical in developing your own ideas.

How do you cite sources?
 
The means to identify sources is to provide citations within your text linking appropriate passages to relevant resources consulted or quoted. This can be done through in-text parenthetic notes, footnotes, or endnotes. In addition, a bibliography or list of works cited, is almost always placed at the end of your paper. The citation system and format you use will be determined by the citation style you choose.

Which style should you use?

Ask each of your teachers which style they want you to use. If they have no preference, you can use any or follow these guidelines:

• APA: From the American Psychological Association. Often preferred in the fields of psychology, education, and other social sciences.
• MLA: From the Modern Language Association of America. Often preferred in the fields of literature, arts, and humanities.
• CBE: From the Council of Biology Editors. Often preferred in the fields of biology and related science areas.
• Turabian: Designed for college students to use with all subjects.
• Chicago: used with all subjects in the "real world" by books, magazines, newspapers, and other non-scholarly publications.
• AMA: Often preferred in the fields of medicine, health, and biological sciences.

Although there are many similarities among these styles, there are many differences. When comparing styles, be mindful that:

• Styles may require both in-text and bibliographic references when citing electronic resources; only in-text references; or only bibliographic references.
• Styles may require both the date the source was published and the date the source was accessed be listed, or only the publication date.
• Some styles prefer that URLs be placed between angle brackets (< >).

If you have questions regarding punctuation, capitalization, use of italics vs. quotation marks, etc., please refer to the official manual of the style you are using.

Footnotes and Endnotes

• to give the origin of facts or opinions

• when using a direct quote

• when paraphrasing someone else's work

• when stating a fact that is not commonly known

• when stating controversial facts or opinions

• The footnote number (¹) is placed at the end of a sentence or quote.

• The footnote number corresponds to the numbered citation at the bottom of the page.

• Footnotes are numbered consecutively from the beginning of a paper.

• Footnotes are listed on the bottom of each page under a solid line.

A footnote is a note of reference, explanation or comment that is placed below printed text. It may also be a table or a chart.¹ It shows where the information came from.

The citation on the bottom of the page looks like this:

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1. Webster's Third New International Dictionary, (1986) s.v. "footnote."

Endnotes

Endnotes are in the same style as footnotes. There is no difference in the contents of footnotes and endnotes. The simple difference between the two is that footnotes appear at the end of the page where the footnote number appears while endnotes are placed at the end of your paper.