students being pulled into a vortex by S. Malavasic Plagiarism 101
How to Write Term Papers
Without Being Sucked into the Black Hole
What it is • Helpful Strategies • Citation Practice • Resources • References • Style Guides

Citation Practice: Crediting your sources

The next section is a short self-quiz about crediting research sources in your writing. For more specific information on how to cite sources you need to consult the style guide used in your area of study. For example, historians favor the Modern Language Association Style or the Chicago Style—those studying psychology would most likely use the American Psychological Association Style. The library has simplified style sheets for both APA and MLA. Ask your professor which he or she prefers. All citation styles require three things: that you enclose "direct quot[ations], phrases, and keywords" in quotation marks, that you provide "in text citations to identify the source of direct Quot[ations], phrases, paraphrases, key words, ideas and theories informed by outside sources", and that you provide a list of "works cited" or bibliography. (1)  In addition to letting you develop your ideas or argument, a first draft allows you to check to be sure you haven't forgotten citations to materials or inadvertently incorporated the words and thoughts of others into your paper.

Is copying just a sentence or two without crediting a source plagiarism? Yes No



Is it OK to paraphrase what another has written without correctly citing the author? Yes No



Is it OK to use information or ideas without crediting the source if the exact words are not used?
 Yes No


Do you need to give a source for commonly known facts such as the capital of a state or country? Yes No



Can you use parts of a friend's paper as your own if he or she says it's OK? Yes No

Digital documents raise special plagiarism issues, as we will see in the next page.

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What it is • Helpful Strategies • Citation Practice • Resources • References • Style Guides