Cite your sources – what does it all mean?
Plagiarism occurs in your writing when you use the words, ideas, data, or information from one or more sources incorrectly. Plagiarism is one form of academic misconduct and it can result in serious consequences. How do you avoid plagiarism and academic misconduct,while ensuring you are using information ethically in your writing?
Cite your sources! You must cite your sources whenever you include any sort of information, data, ideas or words that are not your own in your writing. This includes when you are writing an essay, report, paper, case study OR preparing a visual assignment such as a poster, infographic, brochure or presentation. Citing your sources is an expectation for post-secondary level writing and research.
But what does “Cite your sources” mean? The process of telling your reader where you found your information has many names. You might be asked to acknowledge your sources, cite your sources, back up your argument, provide references, cite, use citations, give credit, integrate sources, provide documentation, or document your sources. That's a lot of different ways to describe one simple idea: whenever you include someone else's concepts, information or words to prepare your own assignment, you must tell your reader exactly where it came from. We do this through a process commonly called “citation”.
There are several different citation styles,but the American Psychological Association Style (APA style) is the one most frequently used at Georgian. Always check with your professor if you are unsure of the expectations. Wait… What is a source? Any information you use, refer to, or quote in your writing, including: Articles, books, news, websites, reports, images, data, charts, videos, interviews, ideas, blog or social media posts, an image, photo, chart or graph. Anything you find/read/hear/learn on the web, in the library, in a physical book, in class, or from another person could be considered a source.
Why should I use sources? Sources are used to help support your ideas, claims, or argument in many types of writing. At the post-secondary level, it's not enough
to just talk or write about something you're studying or are interested in! Unless otherwise specified, you are expected to support your ideas and writing with credible sources. That's any source based on reliable research and/or knowledge and experience.
How do I cite my sources? In any citation style, there are 3 main ways of using any outside source: summarizing, paraphrasing or quoting. When summarizing and paraphrasing, you consider the original writer's ideas, words and sentences, but explain what they have said using different words and sentences - your OWN words!. You must include a note immediately after your summary or paraphrase that tells the reader where the idea came from. This is called an in-text citation. When you quote, you use another writer's words exactly as they are found in the original source.
You must put those words inside “quotation marks” and include an in-text citation. Regardless of how you use ideas that are not your own, you must cite your sources! If you don't, you have plagiarized, EVEN if you didn't mean to - and this can lead to serious consequences. Citing your sources is a two-step process. To avoid plagiarism, you MUST complete both steps:
1. Add a short note to your sentence or paragraph immediately after you use someone else's information. This note is usually called an in-text citation but may also be called: a parenthetical or narrative reference, or a reference in brackets. Narrative references are also used in signal phrases, which introduce a quote, summary or paraphrase BEFORE it appears in your writing.
2. Add a full listing of the source's information at the end of your paper. This part of the citation is commonly called a reference. Other names for a reference are full citation, reference list or page entry, or bibliography. In APA style, the reference page is the last page of your paper, and you will list all of the information about all sources used in your paper. Each source used in your writing must have an in-text citation AND matching reference page entry to ensure you avoid plagiarism.
Where do I learn how to do this? APA style requires that your in-text citation and reference page entry for each source to be written in a very specific way, including
what information is provided, the order it is written in, and what it should look like. Part of your job as a student writer is to learn how to use an APA style guide to properly cite every source you consult. The rules that tell us how to properly cite our sources are contained within the APA Style guide, an actual book published by the American Psychological Association.
Who can help me with this? Many students are unfamiliar with APA citation. Georgian has a lot of resources to help you become confident in using APA style in your writing. The Writing Centre and Language Help Centre help students to develop their writing skills, including APA citation and how to format the document you create. Always check with your professor if you are unclear about assignment requirements or whether to use APA style to cite your sources!