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HSAS Library Website: Citing sources

Citing Your Sources

What are citations?

If you quoted, paraphrased, or summarized someone else's ideas or work in a written paper, an oral report or a Power Point presentation, you must identify the source of your research. Incorporating information from someone else's work without citing the source means that you are plagiarizing. 

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else's ideas or work and passing it off as one's own. Plagiarizing can have serious negative ramifications. In college, you can potentially be expelled for plagiarism.

Why is it necessary to cite sources?

  • to acknowledge that others have influenced your work and give them credit
  • to support key ideas and arguments in your work
  • to allow the reader to check the sources 
  • to demonstrate that you have done your research, lending credibility to your paper/project
  • to avoid accusations of plagiarism 

Chicago Style Citation Guide

MLA Citation Guide 8th edition

MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. The following online guides are consistent with the revised 8th edition:

On the EasyBib site you can generate your "Works Cited" or "Bibliography" page.  Be sure to check if it was correctly generated by going to the MLA Style Center site and checking the guidelines.  You can also learn how to format your research paper at this site where precise instructions are given and samples are provided.

HSAS Academic Honesty Policy

Purdue Owl

Have questions about citations? The Purdue Owl is the premier resource for learning how to cite.

Bibliography Generators

 

Citation generators, such as BibMe and EasyBib, can be used to generate citations for your work cited page and bibliography page. However, keep in mind that these generators are not 100% precise. It is recommended that you double check that the citations you generated are correct.