reasons for acknowledging sources of information in an essay

6 Reasons Why Citation of Sources is Important When Writing

Sir Isaac Newton’s famous words in a l675 letter to Robert Hooke, “If I have seen further, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants,” may serve as a pithy reminder that even the most famous scientists depended on their forebears.

But, in fact, it is even inadequate because Newton did not explicitly name those giants. (As a historical aside, Newton’s comment was not as benign in intent as the words might indicate. The two men had been embroiled in a bitter dispute over certain optical discoveries and the handsome upper-class Newton was likely taking a dig at his lower-class rival’s physical deformity. Regardless of intent, however, the statement has come to represent the importance of giving credit where credit is due).

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But aside from these self-evident reasons, there are other perhaps less-considered arguments for scientists to be meticulous about citing sources properly. Some of these reasons are for the good of the entire research community, whereas others are more personal. This article discusses some of those less obvious, yet compelling, arguments for reserving a block of time specifically for the purposes of attending to citations.

1. Attribution serves as a fact-checking tool .

Accuracy is all important in any writing, especially when we write about science. The very act of looking up a reference for verification serves as an accuracy check, e.g., to double check a direct quote, to ensure the fidelity of a passage that you paraphrased, or to cite another study that is related to your study.

2. Citation makes you a better researcher .

Some of the hallmarks of good research include attention to detail and the ability to discern patterns and make connections. Good citation practices can help with both. The proper attribution of sources entails many details, such as correct page numbers, the spelling of author names, and of course, the accuracy of facts that you are presenting in your own article or other work.

3. Good citation practices make you a better writer .

All of us aspire towards that elegant paper in which the prose is as compelling as the content and good attribution habits build a strong foundation towards that goal. Citing specific sources for the various facts that we present removes the hallmarks of intellectual laziness, vague thinking, and sloppy writing as generalizations, clichés, and outright false claims, e.g., as when the phrases, “everyone knows” or “they say,” are replaced with specific sources.

When you cite sources properly, you leave no question in your readers’ minds regarding your point. Furthermore, by citing, you can easily use active language and avoid raising the dreaded red flag of passivity to journal editors and reviewers. Cite well, and you may forever expunge the phrase “It is said” from your academic paper.

4. A good bibliography shows off your scientific knowledge .

A bibliography is simply the compilation of the various sources that you have read and cited in your own manuscript, dissertation, book, etc. Thus, an extensive bibliography is naturally a hallmark of a widely read and well-informed scientist.

I can remember at least one occasion when my peers offered more compliments on my bibliography than on the content of the paper (though they liked that too). In blind reviews, the matters for which I’ve drawn the harshest critiques are for errors of omission, i.e., for not having read or cited certain references. The last thing you want is a reviewer that says that you do not know your field because you forgot to cite a critical and well-known piece of scientific literature!

5. Careful citation practices will build your credibility as a scientist or scholar.

This point is a simple corollary of the previous one. Indeed, showing off scholarship is simply the icing on the cake of what a well-cited article has to offer. A deeper, more meaningful role that a good bibliography plays for researchers is to establish a writer‘s credibility among peers in their field. The better documented your research and arguments, the more credible you are to your scientific colleagues.

6. Citation enables better verification of your work .

Any piece of academic writing gets vetted several times over before it finally makes it into print or onto a website. Whether one is a peer reviewer, editor, or editorial assistant whose job is simply to track down sources in the bibliography and make sure that the citations are accurate, life is simply easier when there is less busy work. So, your paper is much more likely to be passed through these multiple rounds of editing with minimal criticism and positive feedback if you have already taken the trouble to attribute your information correctly and cite all your sources.

In a future article, we will discuss strategies for integrating good citation practices when writing and revising your articles. You are also encouraged to view our related article on Important English Academic Style Guides . Until then, incite yourself to cite when you write!

For further reading:

The following is a list of suggested readings on the subject of citation. The citation style used in this bibliography is that adopted by the American Psychological Association (APA), 6th edition, which I chose because it is one commonly used in many scientific journals.

Bryson, D. (2012). Using research papers: citations, referencing and plagiarism. Journal of Visual Communication in Medicine , 35(2), 82–84.

Clarke, R. (2006). Plagiarism by academics: More complex than it seems. Journal of the Association for Information Systems , 7(2), 5.

Culwin, F., & Lancaster, T. (2001). Plagiarism issues for higher education. Vine , 31(2), 36–41.

Karami, M., & Danaei, G. H. (2016). A brief review of plagiarism in medical scientific research papers. Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Research , 2(2), 1–8.

Klompien, K. (2001). The Writer and the Text: Basic Writers, Research Papers and Plagiarism. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, Denver, Colorado. (Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED452547 ).

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About the author:

Neeraja Sankaran is a historian of science (Ph.D., Yale University, 2006) specializing in the recent history of biological and biomedical research. She came to this field with a background and experience in science writing (Grad. certificate, 1993) and microbiology (M.Sc., 1990). Author of two general reference-style books on the topics of micro-organisms and the human genome as well as numerous articles on science and scientists for general audiences, she has also published a number of papers in peer-reviewed academic journals on various aspects of the history of biology and medicine, including but not limited to, virus research, immunology, and origin-of-life theorizing. She is currently an independent scholar working on a scholarly monograph that is expected to be published in 2018 by the University of Pittsburgh Press.

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How do i evaluate my sources, when should i acknowledge my sources, how do i integrate my sources into my writing, direct quotes, summaries and paraphrases.

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• Acknowledgement

It is very important to evaluate the information you intend to use to ensure that it is from an authoritative source and is appropriate for your research.  For more information use these guides for evaluating sources:

• Evaluating Information Sources

You should acknowledge your sources whenever you use a source of information:

• as your inspiration
• as the source of a theory, argument or point of view
• for specific information such as statistics, examples or case studies
• for images, graphics or tables
• for direct quotation (using the author's exact words)
• to paraphrase or summarise an author's work

When you are taking something from another source, you are taking it out its original context and putting it into a new context - your own assignment.  You must make sure it fits properly into this new context. This means:

• it must be relevant to your argument
• it must join neatly with what comes before and after
• it must make logical and grammatical sense.

The most effective way to integrate information from another source into your writing is to paraphrase or summarise the information using your own voice.  See below for information on quoting, summarising and paraphrasing.

Direct Quotes

Direct quotes are useful when the point is particularly well expressed, to emphasise a major points, when the information is surprising, or when citing statistics or specific facts.

In 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. declared that "the time is always right to do what is right."

A summary provides a broad overview of a text or group of texts.  It includes the key ideas of the text/s but not the details or examples.

Despite being the least favoured option for waste disposal, landfilling is still widely prevalent globally (Ministry of Environment, New Zealand, 2001; Productivity Commission, 2006; Lang et al., 2007; EC, 2008; USEPA, 2012; Department of the Environment and Energy, Australia, 2013; Weng et al., 2015; Basheri et al., 2017; Geoscience Australia, 2017; Lee et al., 2017; Behrooznia et al., 2018; DEE, 2018).

Paraphrases

A paraphrase is a restatement of text in your own words.  Paraphrases allow you to use supporting ideas while still writing in your own voice.

Original: "Colleagues, whose access to computer at work is hampered by poor language and literacy, need to be assisted and coached so that they too can feel empowered and valued." (McDonald & Russell, 2012)

Paraphrase: Workers, whose less developed language and literacy skills interfere with their access to computers in the workplace, can feel appreciated and empowered when given extra assistance. (McDonald & Russell, 2012) 

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Citing sources: Overview

• Citation style guides

Manage your references

Use these tools to help you organize and cite your references:

• Citation Management and Writing Tools

If you have questions after consulting this guide about how to cite, please contact your advisor/professor or the writing and communication center .

Why citing is important

It's important to cite sources you used in your research for several reasons:

• To show your reader you've done proper research by listing sources you used to get your information
• To be a responsible scholar by giving credit to other researchers and acknowledging their ideas
• To avoid plagiarism by quoting words and ideas used by other authors
• To allow your reader to track down the sources you used by citing them accurately in your paper by way of footnotes, a bibliography or reference list

About citations

Citing a source means that you show, within the body of your text, that you took words, ideas, figures, images, etc. from another place.

Citations are a short way to uniquely identify a published work (e.g. book, article, chapter, web site).  They are found in bibliographies and reference lists and are also collected in article and book databases.

Citations consist of standard elements, and contain all the information necessary to identify and track down publications, including:

• author name(s)
• titles of books, articles, and journals
• date of publication
• page numbers
• volume and issue numbers (for articles)

Citations may look different, depending on what is being cited and which style was used to create them. Choose an appropriate style guide for your needs.  Here is an example of an article citation using four different citation styles.  Notice the common elements as mentioned above:

Author - R. Langer

Article Title - New Methods of Drug Delivery

Source Title - Science

Volume and issue - Vol 249, issue 4976

Publication Date - 1990

Page numbers - 1527-1533

American Chemical Society (ACS) style:

Langer, R. New Methods of Drug Delivery. Science 1990 , 249 , 1527-1533.

IEEE Style:

R. Langer, " New Methods of Drug Delivery," Science , vol. 249 , pp. 1527-1533 , SEP 28, 1990 .

American Psychological Association   (APA) style:

Langer, R. (1990) . New methods of drug delivery. Science , 249 (4976), 1527-1533.

Modern Language Association (MLA) style:

Langer, R. " New Methods of Drug Delivery." Science 249.4976 (1990) : 1527-33.

What to cite

You must cite:

• Facts, figures, ideas, or other information that is not common knowledge

Publications that must be cited include:  books, book chapters, articles, web pages, theses, etc.

Another person's exact words should be quoted and cited to show proper credit 

When in doubt, be safe and cite your source!

Avoiding plagiarism

Plagiarism occurs when you borrow another's words (or ideas) and do not acknowledge that you have done so. In this culture, we consider our words and ideas intellectual property; like a car or any other possession, we believe our words belong to us and cannot be used without our permission.

Plagiarism is a very serious offense. If it is found that you have plagiarized -- deliberately or inadvertently -- you may face serious consequences. In some instances, plagiarism has meant that students have had to leave the institutions where they were studying.

The best way to avoid plagiarism is to cite your sources - both within the body of your paper and in a bibliography of sources you used at the end of your paper.

Some useful links about plagiarism:

• MIT Academic Integrity Overview on citing sources and avoiding plagiarism at MIT.
• Avoiding Plagiarism From the MIT Writing and Communication Center.
• Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It From Indiana University's Writing Tutorial Services.
• Plagiarism- Overview A resource from Purdue University.
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12.2: Read- Acknowledging Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism

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Acknowledgment of Sources is a Rhetorical Act

To an inexperienced writer, citing and documenting sources may seem like busywork. Yet, when you cite your external sources in the text of your paper and when you document them at the end of your piece in a list of works cited or a bibliography, you are performing a rhetorical act. Complete and accurate citing and documenting of all external sources help writers achieve three very important goals:

• It enhances your credibility as a writer. By carefully and accurately citing your external sources in the text and by documenting them at the end of your paper you show your readers that you are serious about your subject, your research, and the argument which you are making in your paper. You demonstrate that you have studied your subject in sufficient depth, and by reading credible and authoritative sources.
• It helps you to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is trying to pass someone else’s ideas or writing as your own. It is a serious offense that can damage the reputation of a writer forever and lead to very serious consequences if committed in an academic or professional setting. Later on in the chapter, we will discuss plagiarism and ways to avoid it in detail.
• The presence of complete citations of sources in your paper will help you demonstrate to your readers that you are an active participant in the community of readers, writers, researchers, and learners. It shows that you are aware of the conversations that are going on among writers and researchers in your field and that you are willing to enter those conversations by researching and writing about the subjects that interest you. By providing enough information about the sources which you used in you own research and writing, you give other interested readers the opportunity to find out more about your subject and, thus, to enter in a conversation with you.

The Logic and Structure of a Source Citation

Every time writers cite and document their sources, they do it in two places in the paper—in the text itself and at the end of the paper, in a list of works cited or bibliography. A citation is incomplete and, by and large, useless to the readers, if either of the parts is missing. Consider the following example, in which I cite an academic journal article using the Modern Language Association citation system. Please note that I give this example at this point in the chapter only to demonstrate the two parts of a citation. Later on, we will discuss how to cite and document different kinds of sources using different documentation systems, in full detail.

In-text citations

In-text citations are also known as parenthetical citations or parenthetical references because, at the end of the citation, parentheses are used. In her essay “If Winston Weather Would Just Write to Me on E-mail,” published in the journal College Composition and Communication, writer and teacher Wendy Bishop shares her thoughts on the nature of writing: “[I see…writing as a mixture of mess and self-discipline, of self-history [and] cultural history.” (101).

The Citation in the List of Works Cited

Bishop, Wendy. “If Winston Weather Would Just Write to Me on E-mail.” College Composition and Communication. 46.1 (1995): 97-103.

The reason why each citation, regardless of the type of source and the documentation system being used, has two parts is simple. Writers acknowledge and document external sources for several reasons. One of these reasons is to give their readers enough information and enable them, if necessary, to find the same source which the paper mentions. Therefore, if we look at the kinds of information provided in the citation (page numbers, titles, authors, publishers, and publication dates), it becomes clear that this information is sufficient to locate the source in the library, bookstore, or online.

When to Cite and Document Sources

The brief answer to this question is “always.” Every time you use someone else’s ideas, arguments, opinions, or data, you need to carefully acknowledge their author and source. Keep in mind that you are not just borrowing others’ words when you use sources in your writing. You are borrowing ideas. Therefore, even if you are not directly citing the source, but paraphrase or summarize it, you still need to cite it both in the text and at the end of the paper in a list of works cited or in a list of references.

The only exception is when you are dealing with what is known as “common knowledge.” Common knowledge consists of facts that are so widely known that they do not require a source reference. For instance, if you say in your writing that the Earth rotates around the Sun or that Ronald Reagan was a US President, you do not need to cite the sources of this common knowledge formally.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a problem that exists not only on college, university, and high school campuses. In recent years, several high profile cases, some involving famous writers and journalists have surfaced, in which the these writers were accused of either presenting someone else work as their own or fabricating works based on fictitious or unreliable research. With the advent of the Internet, it has become relatively easy to download complete papers. Various people and organizations, sometimes masquerading as “writing consultants” promise students that they would write a paper on any subject and of any level of complexity for a hefty fee. Clearly, the use of such services by student writers is dishonest and dishonorable. If your college or university is like mine, it probably has adopted strict policies for dealing with plagiarizing writers. Punishments for intentional plagiarism are severe and may include not only a failing grade for the class but even an expulsion from the university.

In addition to intentional plagiarism, there is also the unintentional kind. Experience shows that beginning writers’ work sometimes include passages which could be called plagiarized because such writers often do not know how to cite and document external sources properly or do not understand that importance of following proper citation practices.

Observing the following practices will help you avoid plagiarism:

As you research, keep careful notes of your sources. As you take notes for your research project, keep track of what materials in those notes comes from external sources and what material is yours. Keep track of all your sources, including interviews and surveys, photographs and drawings, personal e-mails and conversations. Be sure to record the following information:

• Date of publication

Remember that when you use external sources, you are borrowing not the words of another writer, but his or her ideas, theories, and opinions. Therefore, even if you summarize or paraphrase a source, be sure to give it full credit. Writers used to have to record this information on separate note cards. However, with the proliferation of online and other electronic tools which allow us to keep track of our research, the task of recording and reflecting on source-related information has become easier.

Anti-Plagiarism Activity

Read the following four paragraphs. They are from a research source, an article in The New Yorker magazine. The other three are from student papers which attempt to use the article as an external source. As you read consider the following questions:

• Would you call the student’s passage or its parts plagiarized from the original? Why or why not?
• If any parts of the student’s passages are plagiarized what needs to be changed in order to avoid plagiarism? Keep in mind that you may need to rewrite the whole Paragraph and not just make changes in separate sentences.
• Which of the student passages will require more significant rewriting than others and why?

Source Paragraph (from the article “Personality Plus,” by Malcolm Gladwell. New Yorker , Sept 20, 2004). One of the most popular personality tests in the world is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a psychologicalassessment system based on Carl Jung’s notion that people make sense of the world through a series or psychological frames. Some people are extraverts, some are introverts. Some process information through logical thought. Some are directed by their feelings. Some make sense of the world through intuitive leaps. Others collect data through their senses.

Student Paragraph 1

The Myers-Briggs Test is a very popular way to assess someone’s personality type. Philosopher Carl Jung believed that people make sense of the world in different ways. Some are extraverts and some and introverts. According to this idea, people process information either by logical reasoning or through intuition or feelings.

Student Paragraph 2

According to writer Malcolm Gladwell, One of the most popular personality tests in the world is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a psychological-assessment system based on Carl Jung’s notion that people make sense of the world through a series or psychological frames. Gladwell states that the test is based on the idea by Carl Jung that people make sense of the world through a series of psychological frames. According to Jung, some people are extroverts and some are introverts. Some process information through logical input, and some through feelings. Some make sense of the world through intuitive leaps. Others collect data through their senses.

Student Paragraph 3

One of the most popular personality tests in the world is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a psychological assessment system based on Carl Jung’s notion that people make sense of the world through a series or psychological frames (Gladwell 43). The test is based on Jung’s theory that people understand the world differently. This is why we have extroverts and introverts and people who act either based on reasoning or feelings (Gladwell).

Major Citation Systems

In this part of the chapter, I will explain the major citation and documentation systems which you are likely to encounter in your writing for college classes and beyond. The information in this section is not meant to be memorized. Instead, I encourage you to use this material as a reference source, when you are writing a paper and need to cite and document sources correctly, using one of the systems described below, refer to this chapter.

Please note that the following sections include only the basic information about each of the citation styles. There are plenty of excellent sources explaining and illustrating the differences between citation systems. I recommend the cite of the Online Writing Center at Purdue University .

Avoiding plagiarism and acknowledging your external sources completely and accurately are vital parts of the writing process. Your credibility as a writer and the reception that you work will receive from readers may depend on how well you acknowledge your sources. By following the guidelines presented in this chapter and by seeking out more knowledge about the rules of citing and documenting from the publications listed in this chapter, you will become a more competent, more professional, and more credible writer. This chapter covers only the basics of source citing and documenting. For more resources this topic and the various styles of documentation, see the Appendix to this book.

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Why is Referencing Important?

Citations are not used simply to avoid plagiarism; they have other important roles too..

Referencing allows you to acknowledge the contribution of other writers and researchers in your work. Any university assignments that draw on the ideas, words or research of other writers must contain citations.

Referencing is also a way to give credit to the writers from whom you have borrowed words and ideas. By citing the work of a particular scholar, you acknowledge and respect the intellectual property rights of that researcher. As a student or academic, you can draw on any of the millions of ideas, insights and arguments published by other writers, many of whom have spent years researching and writing. All you need to do is acknowledge their contribution to your assignment.

Referencing is a way to provide evidence to support the assertions and claims in your own assignments. By citing experts in your field, you are showing your marker that you are aware of the field in which you are operating. Your citations map the space of your discipline and allow you to navigate your way through your chosen field of study, in the same way that sailors steer by the stars.

References should always be accurate, allowing your readers to trace the sources of information you have used. The best way to make sure you reference accurately is to keep a record of all the sources you used when reading and researching for an assignment.

Citations also make your writing more persuasive. 

Exercise: Look at the two paragraphs below: which one seems more authoritative?

The paragraphs are identical, except for the absence of citations from paragraph 1.

The first paragraph may be just as interesting as the second, but within an academic context, a context that requires you to show from where you have taken ideas, the second has far more authority, it is more persuasive. It shows that the ideas you are discussing are matters that are important to your particular academic community.

What kind of information do I need to reference?

Printed books are not the only sources that require acknowledgement. ANY words, ideas or information taken from ANY source requires a reference.

Reference when you are using words or ideas from:

• books and journal articles
• newspapers and magazines
• pamphlets or brochures
• films, documentaries, television programs or advertisements
• websites or electronic resources
• letters, emails, online discussion forums
• personal interviews
• lecturers or tutors. (Not always necessary but check with your lecturer or tutor about their preferences before you draw on their ideas.)

You also need to reference when you reprint any diagrams, illustrations, charts or pictures.

No need to reference when you are:

• writing your own observations or experiment results, for example, a report on a field trip
• writing about your own experiences, for example, a reflective journal
• writing your own thoughts, comments or conclusions in an assignment
• evaluating or offering your own analysis
• using 'common knowledge' (facts that can be found in numerous places and are likely to be known by a lot of people) or folklore
• using generally accepted facts or information. This will vary in different disciplines of study. If in doubt, ask your tutor.
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Referencing explained

Why and when to reference.

Referencing is an important part of academic work. It puts your work in context, demonstrates the breadth and depth of your research, and acknowledges other people’s work. You should reference whenever you use someone else’s idea.

View video using Microsoft Stream (link opens in a new window, available for University members only)

These webpages explain what referencing is, why it is important and give an overview of the main elements of how to reference. Our Referencing made simple tutorial opens in a new window and covers how to identify your source and create a reference with interactive examples.

Why reference?

Referencing correctly:

• helps you to avoid plagiarism by making it clear which ideas are your own and which are someone else’s
• shows your understanding of the topic
• gives supporting evidence for your ideas, arguments and opinions
• allows others to identify the sources you have used.

When to reference

Whenever you use an idea from someone else's work, for example from a journal article, textbook or website, you should cite the original author to make it clear where that idea came from. This is the case regardless of whether you have paraphrased, summarised or directly quoted their work. This is a key part of good practice in academic writing.

Read more on:

• academic integrity
• quoting, summarising, paraphrasing, and synthesising
• citing direct quotations in Leeds Harvard or citing direct quotations in Leeds Numeric styles.

University and school policies

The University referencing policy (PDF) sets out the referencing requirements that all taught students and tutors are expected to follow.

Each school in the University requires students to use a specific style of referencing. Check the referencing style used in your school before you begin.

All your citations and references should match the style you are using exactly, including any punctuation, capitalisation, italics and bold, and you should use the same referencing style throughout your assignment.

Acknowledging Sources

University of texas at arlington libraries tutorial.

This tutorial will help you learn how to acknowledge sources and avoid plagiarism.

Why is acknowledging sources important?

• How do you acknowledge sources?
• Test your knowledge!

The Point of Class Writing Assignments

Writing assignments are not exercises in assembling a paper from different sources, they are designed to make you think for yourself.

In almost any job, you may be asked to gather information, evaluate and make decisions about the information, and present your conclusions to others. Your class writing assignments give you experience in using other people's work as a starting place for your own ideas and contributions

By acknowledging your sources, you give your work credibility and identify your ideas and the ideas of others.

Intellectual Property

The concept of ownership of information (also called intellectual property) is important to understand. In the United States, people own the copyright of their content from the moment of creation. In other words, as soon as an author writes an article, the author owns the copyright to that article. Copyright allows the author to control how the work is used.

Copyright ownership also applies to books, databases, Internet pages, computer programs, artwork, music, and even spoken words. The material does not have to be published to be protected by copyright.

Because of this culture of ownership, you must be careful to acknowledge the source of all material that you use. If you do not, you are not only guilty of plagiarism but could face legal charges of copyright infringement.

The Importance of Acknowledging Your Sources

Why is it important to acknowledge your sources?

• Responsibility
• By citing your sources you make it easy to verify information that backs up your arguments.
• If you are caught plagiarizing, you will face disciplinary action that could range from a failing grade to expulsion from the university.

What is Plagiarism?

When you take someone's words or ideas and present them as your own, you commit plagiarism. Plagiarism is using the work of others but not acknowledging the source.

• Copying and pasting text from a web site.
• Copying and pasting a chart or image from a web site.
• Copying material from books or magazines.
• Copying someone's spoken words.
• Copying a unique or distinctive phrase.
• Changing the wording of an article slightly (for example, changing "TV" to "television") and not citing the source.
• Buying or using a paper written by someone else.
• Taking another person's ideas and presenting them as your own.
• Copying someone's computer program.
• Including artwork or music in a project without getting permission or citing the source.

You can use other people's work in your papers as long as you give credit to the original author.

Plagiarism Can Affect Your Life

• " Nick Simmons , the son of the rock star Gene Simmons, sought to make a name for himself in the comic book industry as the writer and artist of 'Incarnate,' a manga-style series from Radical Publishing. ... [In February 2010] the publisher announced plans to halt production of a collected edition of 'Incarnate' after Internet message boards filled up with accusations that Mr. Simmons had copied layouts, dialogue and character designs from other manga series, including 'Bleach' and 'Hellsing.'" --Gustines, George G. "Comic Book Writer Accused of Plagiarism." The New York Times 3 March 2010: C2. The New York Times . Web. 3 Mar. 2010.
• In February 2010, Australian Federal Court ruled that the Australian band Men At Work plagiarized part of a copyrighted children's campfire song, "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree," in its 1983 hit "Down Under."
• "Harvard University sophomore Kaavya Viswanathan 's debut novel 'How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life' was compared to 'Can You Keep a Secret' by Sophie Kinsella and two novels - 'Sloppy Firsts' and 'Second Helpings' - by Megan McCafferty. In the case of the McCafferty books, the works' publisher, Crown, said that more than 40 passages had been copied by Viswanathan. As a result, all copies of 'How Opal Mehta Got Kissed' were recalled by its publisher, which also cancelled Viswanathan's two-book contract. A planned film version of the book was also canceled." --Kehe, Marjorie. "Beyond 'Harry Potter': 5 Interesting Tales of Plagiarism." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor , 22 Feb. 2010. Web. 3 Mar. 2010.

Cite Your Sources

When you are in doubt about whether or not you should acknowledge something, use caution and cite the source.

Avoiding plagiarism is easy. Simply acknowledge your sources with a citation. A citation contains information that helps others find the information you are referring to.

To learn how to cite material correctly, continue to the next section.

How Do You Acknowledge Sources?

Acknowledging Sources with a Citation

To acknowledge sources, use a citation. A citation is a reference to specific material that you used to support your work. The information in a citation helps others find the work you are referring to and usually includes some of the following information:

• Author's name
• Title of the work
• Date of work
• Page number

Example Citations

Book (MLA 7th ed.) Deiss, Joseph Jay. Herculaneum: Italy's Buried Treasure . New York: Harper & Row, 1985. Print. Journal Article from a Database (MLA 7th ed.) Chernew, Michael. "Research and Reform: Toward a High-Value Health System." Health Services Research       44.5p1 (2009): 1445-48. Academic Search Complete . Web. 14 Sept. 2009.

About Citations

You should acknowledge the source of all information in your paper unless the material is your own ideas and research or the information is common knowledge.

When in doubt, acknowledge the source of the information.

In your paper you will likely have one or all of the following:

• Paraphrases
• Other materials such as graphics, charts, or tables
• Information that is common knowledge
• Your own original ideas
• Your own original research like surveys or experiments

The next few screens will help you decide when you should acknowledge the source of the information.

Quoting and Paraphrasing Correctly

To include other people's words in your work, you can either quote the original material or paraphrase it.

You are quoting material when you copy it word for word into your paper. Use quotation marks around the quote when you want the speaker to speak in their own words or when the speaker's words are especially distinctive.

When using quotes, you usually indicate the source of the quote (who said it) and acknowledge the source of the quote (where you found it).

Paraphrasing

When you paraphrase something, you restate it in your own words. You do not use quotation marks, but you must acknowledge the source of the paraphrase.

Quote Correctly

Quotations can be short or long. For short quotes, use quotation marks around the quote.

Examples of Short Quotes

When Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D., the town of Herculaneum was buried in "Paleozoic amber" and thus was preserved for posterity (Deiss 23).

After Vesuvius erupted, "the dead cities were erased from human memory. Not only the sites but their very names were totally forgotten" (Deiss 24).

Deiss, Joseph Jay. Herculaneum: Italy's Buried Treasure . New York: Harper & Row, 1985. Print.

Introducing a Quote

You may introduce a quote to your reader by using a phrase like:

• According to UTA President Karbhari, "..."
• As Professor Smith said, "..."
• "..." wrote author William Shakespeare.

Quotations are considered long if they take up more than four typed lines. For long quotes, set off the quotation by indenting it from the left. Quotation marks are not needed for long quotes, but you must still cite the quote.

Example of a Long Quote

At the time of the eruption that buried Herculaneum, few people guessed that Vesuvius was a volcano.

Its heights were silvery with the leaves of gnarled old olive trees, and its terraces grew fruit and grapes of enormous size. No one could have believed that this pacific mountain of groves and goatherds was in reality a slumbering volcano (Deiss 8).

Paraphrase Correctly

When paraphrasing, do not follow the structure or language of the original material too closely. Paraphrase from memory rather than looking at the source.

Tips for Paraphrasing

Plagiarism examples.

Look at the following examples to see how plagiarism can occur.

Higher education is getting less, not more public financial support ... To stay alive, these schools are firing personnel, increasing class size, snuffing courses, limiting enrollment and cutting out some majors. But most of all, they're hiking their tuition and fees ... The cost crisis is resegregating higher education, not by color but by class.

Quinn, Jane Bryant. "Colleges' New Tuition Crisis." Newsweek 2 Feb. 2004: 49.

Plagiarism By Copying

To stay in business, schools are firing personnel, increasing class size, cutting courses, limiting enrollment and dropping some majors. But most of all, they're raising their tuition and fees. The result is that higher education is being resegregated, not by color but by class.

Passages in red are copied directly from the original without attribution or quotation marks.

Correctly Quoted

As public funding for higher education has decreased, colleges and universities have been forced to increase tuition and fees. According to Newsweek columnist Jane Bryant Quinn, "The cost crisis is resegregating higher education, not by color but by class (49)."

Quotation marks are used around the material and the quote is signaled by naming the original author. Also, the quote contains a citation to the original article.

Plagiarism By Incorrect Paraphrasing

Colleges and universities are getting less government money . To make up losses, they are reducing staff, classes, enrollment, and degree offerings while increasing tuition and fees. The result is that economic class now determines who can afford a college education.

Though the words have been changed, the overall order of the ideas in the passage is the same as the original.

Correctly Paraphrased

Newsweek columnist Jane Bryant Quinn asserts that economic status now influences who can attain a college education. This is important because as public funding for higher education has decreased, schools have raised tuition and fees. This discourages lower-income students from attending (Quinn 49).

The structure of the original has been changed, as have the words. Attribution of the idea of economic status is properly given. Also, the paraphrase contains a citation.

Plagiarism of an Idea

Enrollment on college campuses used to be influenced by race. Now because of increased tuition rates, it is a person's economic status that determines who can go to college.

The writer presents the idea of economic status determining college enrollment as their own, rather than attributing it to the original author.

Idea Correctly Cited

Enrollment on college campuses used to be influenced by race. But now, as Newsweek columnist Jane Bryant Quinn writes, economic status influences who can attain a college education (Quinn 49).

The idea of economic status determining college enrollment is properly attributed to Jane Bryant Quinn and includes a citation to the original article.

Including Other Elements

Other elements that you may include in your work are:

All of these elements must have their source acknowledged with a citation, even if the image or music was downloaded or copied from the web.

Freely distributable clipart does not generally need to be cited for non-commercial purposes, but check your end user license agreement for confirmation.

If you are not sure if it is freely distributable, cite the source.

Example (MLA 7th ed.)

Fig. 1. Vincent van Gogh, Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase , The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

About Common Knowledge

Common knowledge is information that is commonly accepted or found in multiple general reference sources.

You do not need to cite information that is common knowledge. Examples of common knowledge are:

• Mars is the fourth planet from the sun.
• George Washington was America's first president.
• The book Animal Farm was written by George Orwell.

What is Not Common Knowledge

If you add an interpretation or idea to the fact, that addition is not common knowledge and the source of the interpretation or idea must be cited.

• New evidence suggests that Mars could have underground water (Feffer, Paradise, and Armstrong 43).
• George Washington, America's first president, set the precedent of serving a maximum of two terms in office (Mahoney 2741).
• In Animal Farm, George Orwell shows how language can be used to manipulate the public ("Animal Farm" 7).

Feffer, Loren Butler, Lee A. Paradise, and John Armstrong. "Did water once flow on the surface of Mars?" Science in Dispute . Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2002. 41-47. Gale Virtual Reference Library . Web. 3 Mar. 2010.

Mahoney, Dennis J. "Twenty-Second Amendment." Encyclopedia of the American Constitution . Ed. Leonard W. Levy and Kenneth L. Karst. 2nd ed. Vol. 6. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. 2741-2742. Gale Virtual Reference Library . Web. 3 Mar. 2010.

"Animal Farm." Novels for Students . Ed. Diane Telgen and Kevin Hile. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 1998. 1-23. Gale Virtual Reference Library . Web. 3 Mar. 2010.

Original Ideas

As mentioned before, the point of class assignments is to develop and share your own ideas, not just assemble what you have read.

Your original work is the ideas and conclusions you have developed after conducting research. When you share your original work, you do not need to cite yourself as the author.

Examples of your original work that do not require a citation may include:

• Your opinions about a topic
• Your unique solution to a problem
• Results of an experiment or survey that you conducted
• Illustrations that you created
• Graphs or table that you prepared

Citation Chart

Citation style.

When acknowledging your sources, there are many citation styles. A citation style tells you what information you need to correctly acknowledge your source and how the information should be presented. A few common examples of citation styles are MLA, APA, and Turabian. Your professor will tell you which format to use.

Example of MLA Style, 7th Ed.

Quirantes, Deborah. "Collaborative Approach to Autism: A Parent's Perspective." Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing 14.3 (2009): 203-205. Academic Search Complete . Web. 3 Mar. 2010.

Example of APA Style, 6th Ed.

Quirantes, D. (2009). Collaborative approach to autism: A parent's perspective. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 14(3), 203-205. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6155.2009.00199.x

Example of Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Ed., Bibliographic Entry

Quirantes, Deborah. "Collaborative Approach to Autism: A Parent's Perspective." Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing 14, no. 3 (July 2009), http://search.ebscohost.com/ (accessed March 3, 2010).

Acknowledging Sources Quiz

The following quiz has 13 questions designed to test your understanding about how to avoid plagiarism.

A passing score is considered 70% or above. If you pass, a certificate appears in which you can enter your name before printing it for your records. You may also email your score to a teacher or professor.

You may retake the quiz as often as you like.

If your teacher or professor has instructed you to take the quiz in Canvas, you may stop now and return to Canvas to take the quiz.

Select the best definition of plagiarism

A) Making up quotes and sources to support your paper's thesis. B) Collaborating with another (without the instructor's authorization) when preparing an assignment. C) Using another person's ideas, words, or other creative work without citing them as a source. D) All of the above.

You are fabricating sources when you make them up, but you are not plagiarizing. When you collaborate with someone without the instructor's permission, you are committing collusion. Both fabrication and collusion violate academic integrity, but they have separate definitions from plagiarism.

For a marketing class, you conduct a survey of students on campus. You include the results in your paper. Do you cite the source?

A) Yes B) No

You do not cite your own work, previously unpublished work.

Plagiarism does NOT apply to which of the following?

A) Images B) Computer code C) Music D) Math formulas E) It applies to all of the above

Plagiarism does not just apply to words, it can even apply to ideas!

In class, your professor talks about a study she conducted. The results of the study have not been published, but you get permission to use the results in your paper. Do you cite the source?

Even though the work has not been published, you cite the source since you did not conduct the study yourself.

Which sentence about citing is NOT true?

A) You have to cite everything you use, even common factual information like dates of World War II or the date of Napoleon's death. B) There are over 200 citation styles, including MLA, APA, and Chicago. C) By citing your sources, you give your work credibility and identify your ideas as well as the ideas of others. D) You can be expelled from the university for not citing your sources.

A good explanation of common knowledge comes from the Purdue University Online Writing Lab : "Generally speaking, you can regard something as common knowledge if you find the same information undocumented in at least five credible sources. Additionally, it might be common knowledge if you think the information you're presenting is something your readers will already know, or something that a person could easily find in general reference sources. But when in doubt, cite; if the citation turns out to be unnecessary, your teacher or editor will tell you."

In making a determination of plagiarism, does it matter how much of the paper is copied?

Even a few words or paragraphs with improper citation can be considered an act of plagiarism, but the consequences of the plagiarism may change in response to the amount copied.

Susan comes from a country whose educational culture does not emphasize the importance of citing sources. Because of this unawareness, she fails to cite major portions of her paper. When the professor charges her with plagiarism, she tells him about her country's expectations. Can Susan still get in trouble with the University?

International students must abide by the same standards for academic integrity as U.S. students. If you need help with citing your sources, visit the university's Writing Center or the Libraries for help.

Which sentence about quoting is NOT true?

A) Block quotes are several sentences long and do not require quote marks around them. B) When paraphrasing or summarizing text, you should put quotes around particularly distinctive words or phrases. C) If the original text contains bad grammar or spelling, you can correct it in your quote without indicating that you did so. D) When you leave out part of a quote, use an ellipsis to indicate that the quote has been abridged.

Quoting is, by definition, a word for word recreation of the original; however, you may need to add information for clarity, omit parts of long quotes, or indicate that a peculiar spelling or construction is accurate. Your style manual can show you how to make these changes to quotes correctly.

Since Wikipedia articles can be written and changed by anyone and do not have an author listed, do you need to cite it as a source?

If you are quoting or paraphrasing information from the Web-- even if it's Wikipedia, YouTube, or Facebook- you must cite the source.

Where can you go for help with citing sources?

A) Your instructor B) The Writing Center C) The Libraries D) All of the above

Your instructor should be the first place you go for help citing sources, but the Writing Center and the Libraries also provide help.

You start your persuasive essay on college football with these words adapted from Shakespeare: "Friends, students, Mavericks, lend me your ears! I come to bury football, not to praise it." Do you need to cite the original source of the quote?

Generally, you do not need to cite something that is common knowledge like a famous Shakespeare quote; however, if you are unsure how well known the quote or saying is, check with your professor or err on the side of caution and cite the source.

To illustrate your paper on Hollywood entertainment, you use this well-known photo of Marilyn Monroe from Art.com. Do you cite the source?

You should always cite the source for the artwork you use in your research. Citing art copied from the Web can be tricky- sometimes the site hosting the art is not the actual copyright holder to that work. Using a database like ARTstor , available through the UT Arlington Libraries , can help you find and cite images correctly.

Select the best definition of paraphrasing.

A) To copy a passage of text word-for-word. B) To restate a passage of text in your own words. C) An abstract of an entire work.

When you quote a passage, you duplicate the passage word for word and surround it with quotation marks. When you paraphrase, you are taking a portion of the work, like a paragraph from an article, and restating that paragraph in your own words. If you were to write an abstract of the whole article, that would be considered a summary. Put simply, paraphrasing involves a small part of the work while summaries involve the whole work.

ENGL002: English Composition II

Acknowledging sources and avoiding plagiarism, acknowledgment of sources is a rhetorical act.

To an inexperienced writer, citing and documenting sources may seem like busywork. Yet, when you cite your external sources in the text of your paper and when you document them at the end of your piece in a list of works cited or a bibliography, you are performing a rhetorical act. Complete and accurate citing and documenting of all external sources help writers achieve three very important goals:

• It enhances your credibility as a writer. By carefully and accurately citing your external sources in the text and by documenting them at the end of your paper you show your readers that you are serious about your subject, your research, and the argument which you are making in your paper. You demonstrate that you have studied your subject in sufficient depth, and by reading credible and authoritative sources.
• It helps you to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is trying to pass someone else's ideas or writing as your own. It is a serious offense that can damage the reputation of a writer forever and lead to very serious consequences if committed in an academic or professional setting. Later on in the chapter, we will discuss plagiarism and ways to avoid it in detail.
• The presence of complete citations of sources in your paper will help you demonstrate to your readers that you are an active participant in the community of readers, writers, researchers, and learners. It shows that you are aware of the conversations that are going on among writers and researchers in your field and that you are willing to enter those conversations by researching and writing about the subjects that interest you. By providing enough information about the sources which you used in your own research and writing, you give other interested readers the opportunity to find out more about your subject and, thus, to enter into a conversation with you.

The Logic and Structure of a Source Citation

Every time writers cite and document their sources, they do it in two places in the paper – in the text itself and at the end of the paper, in a list of works cited or bibliography. A citation is incomplete and, by and large, useless to the readers, if either of the parts is missing. Consider the following example, in which I cite an academic journal article using the Modern Language Association citation system. Please note that I give this example at this point in the chapter only to demonstrate the two parts of a citation. Later on, we will discuss how to cite and document different kinds of sources using different documentation systems, in full detail.

In-text citations

In-text citations are also known as parenthetical citations or parenthetical references because, at the end of the citation, parentheses are used.

In her essay "If Winston Weather Would Just Write to Me on E-mail", published in the journal College Composition and Communication, writer and teacher Wendy Bishop shares her thoughts on the nature of writing: "[I see…writing as a mixture of mess and self-discipline, of self-history [and] cultural history". (101).

The Citation in the List of Works Cited

Bishop, Wendy. "If Winston Weather Would Just Write to Me on E-mail". College Composition and Communication. 46.1 (1995): 97-103.

The reasons why each citation, regardless of the type of source and the documentation system being used has two parts that are simple. Writers acknowledge and document external sources for several reasons. One of these reasons is to give their readers enough information and enable them, if necessary, to find the same source which the paper mentions. Therefore, if we look at the kinds of information provided in the citation (page numbers, titles, authors, publishers, and publication dates), it becomes clear that this information is sufficient to locate the source in the library, bookstore, or online.

When to Cite and Document Sources

The brief answer to this question is "always". Every time you use someone else's ideas, arguments, opinions, or data, you need to carefully acknowledge their author and source. Keep in mind that you are not just borrowing others' words when you use sources in your writing. You are borrowing ideas. Therefore, even if you are not directly citing the source, but paraphrase or summarize it, you still need to cite it both in the text and at the end of the paper in a list of works cited or in a list of references.

The only exception is when you are dealing with what is known as "common knowledge". Common knowledge consists of facts that are so widely known that they do not require a source reference. For instance, if you say in your writing that the Earth rotates around the Sun or that Ronald Reagan was a US President, you do not need to cite the sources of this common knowledge formally.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a problem that exists not only on college, university, and high school campuses. In recent years, several high-profile cases, some involving famous writers and journalists have surfaced, in which these writers were accused of either presenting someone else work as their own or fabricating works based on fictitious or unreliable research.

With the advent of the Internet, it has become relatively easy to download complete papers. Various people and organizations, sometimes masquerading as "writing consultants" promise students that they would write a paper on any subject and of any level of complexity for a hefty fee. Clearly, the use of such services by student writers is dishonest and dishonorable. If your college or university is like mine, it probably has adopted strict policies for dealing with plagiarizing writers. Punishments for intentional plagiarism are severe and may include not only a failing grade for the class but even an expulsion from the university.

In addition to intentional plagiarism, there is also the unintentional kind. Experience shows that beginning writers' work sometimes includes passages that could be called plagiarized because such writers often do not know how to cite and document external sources properly or do not understand the importance of following proper citation practices.

Observing the following practices will help you avoid plagiarism:

As you research, keep careful notes of your sources. As you take notes for your research project, keep track of what materials in those notes come from external sources and what material is yours. Keep track of all your sources, including interviews and surveys, photographs and drawings, personal e-mails, and conversations. Be sure to record the following information:

• Date of publication

Remember that when you use external sources, you are borrowing not the words of another writer, but his or her ideas, theories, and opinions. Therefore, even if you summarize or paraphrase a source, be sure to give it full credit. Writers used to have to record this information on separate note cards. However, with the proliferation of online and other electronic tools that allow us to keep track of our research, the task of recording and reflecting on source-related information has become easier.

Anti-Plagiarism Activity

Read the following four paragraphs. They are from a research source, an article in The New Yorker magazine. The other three are from student papers that attempt to use the article as an external source. As you read consider the following questions:

• Would you call the student's passage or its parts plagiarized from the original? Why or why not?
• If any parts of the student's passages are plagiarized what needs to be changed in order to avoid plagiarism? Keep in mind that you may need to rewrite the whole Paragraph and not just make changes in separate sentences.
• Which of the student passages will require more significant rewriting than others and why?

Source Paragraph (from the article "Personality Plus", by Malcolm Cladwell. New Yorker, Sept 20, 2004).

One of the most popular personality tests in the world is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a psychological-assessment system based on Carl Jung's notion that people make sense of the world through a series or psychological frames. Some people are extroverts, some are introverts. Some process information through logical thought. Some are directed by their feelings. Some make sense of the world through intuitive leaps. Others collect data through their senses.

Student Paragraph 1

The Myers-Briggs Test is a very popular way to assess someone's personality type. Philosopher Carl Jung believed that people make sense of the world in different ways. Some are extroverts and some and introverts. According to this idea, people process information either by logical reasoning or through intuition or feelings.

Student Paragraph 2

According to writer Malcolm Cladwell, One of the most popular personality tests in the world is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a psychological-assessment system based on Carl Jung's notion that people make sense of the world through a series or psychological frames. Cladwell states that the test is based on the idea by Carl Jung that people make sense of the world through a series of psychological frames. According to Jung, some people are extroverts and some are introverts. Some process information through logical input, and some through feelings. Some make sense of the world through intuitive leaps. Others collect data through their senses.

Student Paragraph 3

One of the most popular personality tests in the world is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a psychological-assessment system based on Carl Jung's notion that people make sense of the world through a series or psychological frames (Cladwell 43). The test is based on Jung's theory that people understand the world differently. This is why we have extroverts and introverts and people who act either based on reasoning or feelings (Cladwell)/

Major Citation Systems

In this part of the chapter, I will explain the major citation and documentation systems that you are likely to encounter in your writing for college classes and beyond. The information in this section is not meant to be memorized. Instead, I encourage you to use this material as a reference source, when you are writing a paper and need to cite and document sources correctly, using one of the systems described below, refer to this chapter.   Please note that the following sections include only the basic information about each of the citation styles. There are plenty of excellent sources explaining and illustrating the differences between citation systems.

Avoiding plagiarism and acknowledging your external sources completely and accurately are vital parts of the writing process. Your credibility as a writer and the reception that your work will receive from readers may depend on how well you acknowledge your sources. By following the guidelines presented in this chapter and by seeking out more knowledge about the rules of citing and documenting from the publications listed in this chapter, you will become a more competent, more professional, and more credible writer.

• UNC Libraries
• Academic Process
• Citing Information

Why We Cite

Citing information: why we cite.

• Introduction
• Sample References Page
• In-Text Citations
• Print Sources
• Online Sources
• Sample Works Cited
• Sample Bibliography Page
• Sample Works Cited Page
• Print & Online Sources
• Citation Builder This link opens in a new window

Why we Cite

The purposes of citation.

Quality academic writing is built upon the work of others, to which we add our own unique analysis and contributions. Citations serve three major roles in scholarly work:

• They allow you to show how your argument is built upon the ideas of others.
• They allow you to indicate which ideas are taken from others, and from whom those ideas were taken; in other words, to give credit where it's due.
• They allow the interested reader to follow your argument and confirm its logic by investigating the ideas on which the argument is built, or to further explore those ideas on their own.

In each case, it's important that you acknowledge the ways in which others' ideas contributed to your own. To fail to distinguish our original ideas from those of our forebears is plagiarism, "the act of appropriating the literary composition of another author, or excerpts, ideas, or passages therefrom, and passing the material off as one's own creation." (West's Encyclopedia of American Law ).

What Needs to be Cited?

If you incorporate or refer to others' theories, words, ideas or concepts in a paper or project, you must document each one using a citation. The use of facts and statistics that another has compiled must also be likewise acknowledged.

You need to document:

• Direct quotes, both entire sentences and phrases
• Paraphrases (rephrased or summarized material)
• Words or terminology specific to or unique to the author's research, theories, or ideas
• Use of an author's argument or line of thinking
• Historical, statistical, or scientific facts
• Graphs, drawings, or other such aggregations of information or data
• Articles or studies you refer to within your text

You do not need to document:

• Proverbs, axioms, and sayings ("A stitch in time saves nine.")
• Well-known quotations ("Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.")
• Common knowledge (Thomas Edison invented the phonograph; "Starry Night" was painted by Vincent Van Gogh; Oxygen has the atomic number 8)

Sometimes it can be difficult to be sure what counts as common knowledge. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself if a knowledgeable reader would be familiar with the information in question. If he or she would have to look it up to confirm it, you should usually document it. If you're not sure, document it to play it safe.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is theft; it is a violation of professional ethics; it is a violation of UNC at Chapel Hill's Honor Code; furthermore, the courts have recognized it as a violation of copyright. There are many ways to violate copyright, including failure to acknowledge direct quotes or the paraphrasing of another person's work, and the insufficient acknowledgment of such works.

For an in-depth discussion of plagiarism , please refer to the Library's Plagiarism Tutorial and the Writing Center's Plagiarism Handout .

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Acknowledging, Paraphrasing, and Quoting Sources

The writing center (writing.wisc.edu).

When you write at the college level, you often need to integrate material from published sources into your own writing. This means you need to be careful not to plagiarize: “to use and pass off (the ideas or writings of another) as one’s own” ( American Heritage Dictionary ) or, in the words of the University of Wisconsin’s Academic Misconduct guide, to present “the words or ideas of others without giving credit” (“Plagiarism,” ¶ 1). The University takes plagiarism seriously, and the penalties can be severe.

This handout is intended to help you use source materials responsibly and avoid plagiarizing by (a) describing the kinds of material you must document; (b) illustrating unsuccessful and successful paraphrases; (c) offering advice on how to paraphrase; and (d) providing guidelines for using direct quotations.

What You Must Document

The way that you credit your source depends on the documentation system you’re using. If you’re not sure which documentation system to use, ask the course instructor who assigned your paper. You can pick up a Writing Center handout or check our Web site (www.wisc.edu/writing) for the basics of several commonly used styles (American Political Science Association, APSA; American Psychological Association, APA; Chicago/Turabian; Council of Biology Editors, CBE; Modern Language Association, MLA; and Numbered References).

Sample Paraphrases—Unsuccessful and Successful

Paraphrasing is often defined as putting a passage from an author into “your own words.” But what are your own words? How different must your paraphrase be from the original? The paragraphs below provide an example by showing a passage as it appears in the source (A), two paraphrases that follow the source too closely (B and C), and a legitimate paraphrase (D). The student’s intention was to incorporate the material in the original passage A into a section of a paper on the concept of “experts” that compared the functions of experts and nonexperts in several professions.

A. The Passage as It Appears in the Source (indented to indicate a lengthy direct quotation)

Critical care nurses function in a hierarchy of roles. In this open heart surgery unit, the nurse manager hires and fires the nursing personnel. The nurse manager does not directly care for patients but follows the progress of unusual or long-term patients. On each shift a nurse assumes the role of resource nurse. This person oversees the hour-by-hour functioning of the unit as a whole, such as considering expected admissions and discharges of patients, ascertaining that beds are available for patients in the operating room, and covering sick calls. Resource nurses also take a patient assignment. They are the most experienced of all the staff nurses. The nurse clinician has a separate job description and provides for quality of care by orienting new staff, developing unit policies, and providing direct support where needed, such as assisting in emergency situations. The clinical nurse specialist in this unit is mostly involved with formal teaching in orienting new staff. The nurse manager, nurse clinician, and clinical nurse specialist are the designated experts. They do not take patient assignments. The resource nurse is seen as both a caregiver and a resource to other caregivers. . . . Staff nurses have a hierarchy of seniority. . . . Staff nurses are assigned to patients to provide all their nursing care. (Chase, 1995, p. 156)

B. Word-for-Word Plagiarism

Critical care nurses have a hierarchy of roles. The nurse manager hires and fires nurses. S/he does not directly care for patients but does follow unusual or long-term cases. On each shift a resource nurse attends to the functioning of the unit as a whole, such as making sure beds are available in the operating room, and also has a patient assignment. The nurse clinician orients new staff, develops policies, and provides support where needed. The clinical nurse specialist also orients new staff, mostly by formal teaching. The nurse manager, nurse clinician, and clinical nurse specialist, as the designated experts, do not take patient assignments. The resource nurse is not only a caregiver but a resource to the other caregivers. Within the staff nurses there is also a hierarchy of seniority. Their job is to give assigned patients all their nursing care.

Notice that the writer has not only “borrowed” Chase’s material (the results of her research) with no acknowledgment, but has also largely maintained the author’s method of expression and sentence structure. The underlined phrases are directly copied from the source or changed only slightly in form. Even if the student-writer had acknowledged Chase as the source of the content, the language of the passage would be considered plagiarized because no quotation marks indicate the phrases that come directly from Chase. And if quotation marks did appear around all these phrases, this paragraph would be so cluttered that it would be unreadable.

C. A Patchwork Paraphrase

Chase (1995) described how nurses in a critical care unit function in a hierarchy that places designated experts at the top and the least senior staff nurses at the bottom. The experts–the nurse manager, nurse clinician, and clinical nurse specialist–are not involved directly in patient care. The staff nurses, in contrast, are assigned to patients and provide all their nursing care . Within the staff nurses is a hierarchy of seniority in which the most senior can become resource nurses: they are assigned a patient but also serve as a resource to other caregivers . The experts have administrative and teaching tasks such as selecting and orienting new staff, developing unit policies , and giving hands-on support where needed .

This paraphrase is a patchwork composed of pieces in the original author’s language (underlined) and pieces in the student-writer’s words, all rearranged into a new pattern, but with none of the borrowed pieces in quotation marks. Thus, even though the writer acknowledges the source of the material, the underlined phrases are falsely presented as the student’s own.

D. A Legitimate Paraphrase

In her study of the roles of nurses in a critical care unit, Chase (1995) also found a hierarchy that distinguished the roles of experts and others. Just as the educational experts described above do not directly teach students, the experts in this unit do not directly attend to patients. That is the role of the staff nurses, who, like teachers, have their own “hierarchy of seniority” (p. 156). The roles of the experts include employing unit nurses and overseeing the care of special patients (nurse manager), teaching and otherwise integrating new personnel into the unit (clinical nurse specialist and nurse clinician), and policy-making (nurse clinician). In an intermediate position in the hierarchy is the resource nurse, a staff nurse with more experience than the others, who assumes direct care of patients as the other staff nurses do, but also takes on tasks to ensure the smooth operation of the entire facility.

The writer has documented Chase’s material and specific language (by direct reference to the author and by quotation marks around language taken directly from the source). Notice too that the writer has modified Chase’s language and structure and has added material to fit the new context and purpose—to present the distinctive functions of experts and nonexperts in several professions.

Perhaps you’ve noticed that a number of phrases from the original passage appear in the legitimate paraphrase in D above: critical care , staff nurses , nurse manager , clinical nurse specialist , nurse clinician , resource nurse . If all these were underlined, the paraphrase would look much like the “patchwork” in example C. The difference is that the phrases in D are all precise, economical, and conventional designations that are part of the shared language within the nursing discipline (in B and C, they’re underlined only when used within a longer borrowed phrase). In every discipline and in certain genres (such as the empirical research report), some phrases are so specialized or conventional that you can’t paraphrase them except by wordy and awkward circumlocutions that would be less familiar (and thus less readable) to the audience. When you repeat such phrases, you’re not stealing the unique phrasing of an individual writer, but using a common vocabulary shared by a community of scholars.

How to Paraphrase

General Advice

• When reading a passage, try first to understand it as a whole, rather than pausing to write down specific ideas or phrases.
• Be selective. Unless your assignment is to do a formal or “literal” paraphrase,* you usually don’t need to paraphrase an entire passage; instead, choose and summarize the material that helps you make a point in your paper.
• Think of what “your own words” would be if you were telling someone who’s unfamiliar with your subject (your mother, your brother, a friend) what the original source said.
• Remember that you can use direct quotations of phrases from the original within your paraphrase and that you don’t need to change or put quotation marks around shared language (see box above).

*See Spatt (1999), pp. 99-103; paraphrase is used in this handout in the more common sense of a summary-paraphrase or what Spatt calls a “free paraphrase” (p. 103).

Methods of Paraphrasing

• Look away from the source; then write. Read the text you want to paraphrase several times—until you feel that you understand it and can use your own words to restate it to someone else. Then, look away from the original and rewrite the text in your own words.
• Take notes.

Take abbreviated notes; set the notes aside; then paraphrase from the notes a day or so later, or when you draft.

If you find that you can’t do 1 or 2, this may mean that you don’t understand the passage completely or that you need to use a more structured process until you have more experience in paraphrasing. The method below is not only a way to create a paraphrase but also a way to understand a difficult text.

• While looking at the source, first change the structure, then the words .

For example, consider the following passage from Love and Toil (a book on motherhood in London from 1870 to 1918), in which the author, Ellen Ross, puts forth one of her major arguments:

Love and Toil maintains that family survival was the mother’s main charge among the large majority of London’s population who were poor or working class; the emotional and intellectual nurture of her child or children and even their actual comfort were forced into the background. To mother was to work for and organize household subsistence. (p. 9)

      a.  Change the structure.

Begin by starting at a different place in the passage and/or sentence(s), basing your choice on the focus of your paper. This will lead naturally to some changes in wording. Some places you might start in the passage above are “The mother’s main charge,” “Among the . . . poor or working class,” “Working for and organizing household subsistence,” or “The emotional and intellectual nurture.” Or you could begin with one of the people the passage is about: “Mothers,” “A mother,” “Children,” “A child.” Focusing on specific people rather than abstractions will make your paraphrase more readable.           

At this stage, you might also break up long sentences, combine short ones, expand phrases for clarity, or shorten them for conciseness, or you might do this in an additional step. In this process, you’ll naturally eliminate some words and change others.

Here’s one of the many ways you might get started with a paraphrase of the passage above by changing its structure. In this case, the focus of the paper is the effect of economic status on children at the turn of the century, so the writer begins with children :

Children of the poor at the turn of the century received little if any emotional or intellectual nurturing from their mothers, whose main charge was family survival. Working for and organizing household subsistence were what defined mothering. Next to this, even the children’s basic comfort was forced into the background (Ross, 1995).

Now you’ve succeeded in changing the structure, but the passage still contains many direct quotations, so you need to go on to the second step.

     b. Change the words.

Use synonyms or a phrase that expresses the same meaning.

Leave shared language (box, p. 3) unchanged.

It’s important to start by changing the structure, not the words, but you might find that as you change the words, you see ways to change the structure further. The final paraphrase might look like this:

According to Ross (1993), poor children at the turn of the century received little mothering in our sense of the term. Mothering was defined by economic status, and among the poor, a mother’s foremost responsibility was not to stimulate her children’s minds or foster their emotional growth but to provide food and shelter to meet the basic requirements for physical survival. Given the magnitude of this task, children were deprived of even the “actual comfort” (p. 9) we expect mothers to provide today.

You may need to go through this process several times to create a satisfactory paraphrase.

Using Direct Quotations

Use direct quotations only if you have a good reason. Most of your paper should be in your own words.

Introducing Quotations

One of your jobs as a writer is to guide your reader through your text. Don’t simply drop quotations into your paper and leave it to the reader to make connections. Integrating a quotation into your text usually involves two elements:

• A signal that a quotation is coming—generally the author’s name and/or a reference to the work
• An assertion that indicates the relationship of the quotation to your text

Often both the signal and the assertion appear in a single introductory statement, as in the example below. Notice how a transitional phrase also serves to connect the quotation smoothly to the introductory statement.

Ross (1993), in her study of poor and working-class mothers in London from 1870-1918 [ signal ], makes it clear that economic status to a large extent determined the meaning of motherhood [ assertion ]. Among this population [ connection ], “To mother was to work for and organize household subsistence” (p. 9).

The signal can also come after the assertion, again with a connecting word or phrase:

Illness was rarely a routine matter in the nineteenth century [ assertion ]. As [ connection ] Ross observes [ signal ], “Maternal thinking about children’s health revolved around the possibility of a child’s maiming or death” (p. 166).

Formatting Quotations

Incorporate short direct prose quotations into the text of your paper and enclose them in double quotation marks, as in the examples above. Begin longer quotations (for instance, in the APA system, 40 words or more) on a new line and indent the entire quotation (i.e., put in block form), with no quotation marks at beginning or end , as in the quoted passage from Chase on p. 2, A. Rules about the minimum length of block quotations, how many spaces to indent, and whether to single- or double-space extended quotations vary with different documentation systems; check the guidelines for the system you’re using.

Punctuation with Quotation Marks

Indicating Changes in Quotations

Use ellipsis points (. . .) to indicate an omission within a quotation–but not at the beginning or end unless it’s not obvious that you’re quoting only a portion of the whole.

Within quotations, use square brackets [ ] (not parentheses) to add your own clarification, comment, or correction. Use [sic] (meaning “so” or “thus”) to indicate that a mistake is in the source you’re quoting and is not your own.

Some Useful Sources on Paraphrasing and Summarizing

American heritage dictionary of the English language (4th ed.). (2000). Retrieved January 7, 2002, from www.bartleby.com/61/.

Bazerman, C. (1995). The informed writer: Using sources in the disciplines (5th ed). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Leki, I. (1995). Academic writing: Exploring processes and strategies (2nd ed.) New York: St. Martin’s Press, pp. 185-211.

Spatt, B. (1999). Writing from sources (5th ed.) New York: St. Martin’s Press, pp. 98-119; 364-371.

Chase, S. K. (1995). The social context of critical care clinical judgment. Heart and Lung , 24, 154-162.

Hertzberg, H. (2002, July 29). Framed up: What the Constitution gets wrong [Review of R. A. Dahl, How democratic is the Constitution? ]. New Yorker , pp. 85-90.

Menand, L. (2002, November 26). Slips of the tongue [Review of J. McMorris, The warden of English: The life of H. W. Fowler ]. New Yorker , pp. 112-116.

Ross, E. (1993). Love and toil: Motherhood in outcast London , 1870-1918. New York: Oxford University Press.

Spatt, B. (1999). Writing from sources (5th ed.). New York: St. Martin’s Press.

University of Wisconsin-Madison. (2002, October 1). Academic misconduct: Guide for students . Retrieved November 10, 2002, from http://www.wisc.edu/students/amsum.htm.

Information Literacy

• Data, Information, and Knowledge
• The Elements of Information Literacy
• Identifying Your Information Need
• Types of Sources
• Popular vs. Scholarly Sources
• Google and the Internet
• Google Scholar
• Library Databases
• Peer Review
• Scholarly Articles
• What is Bias?
• Analyzing Information
• Research As Conversation
• Academic Writing
• Public Speaking
• PowerPoint Slideshows
• Presenting Data
• Evidence-Based Practice

Acknowledging Information Sources

• Social Media and Well-Being
• Digital Skills
• Ethical Use and Digital Citizenship
• Privacy & Security
• Cyberbullying & Online Harassment
• Pulling It All Together

Ethical use of another's ideas requires that you acknowledge the source of information. Improper use of another's ideas or intellectual property can result in plagiarism or violations of copyright laws. 

Why should I cite?

It is important to avoid  plagiarism  and  cite  your sources in academic writing.  During the writing process, you will synthesize the information from your sources and quote or summarize the content in your own words.  Avoid plagiarism by citing your quotes and summaries using the citation style assigned by your instructor.  

What is a citation?

In-text citations are used to point to a specific source in the reference list. This indicates that the ideas in the cited sentence were pulled from that source. Each in-text citation must correspond to a source in the reference list, and each source in the reference list must be cited at least once in the body of the paper. Proper use of in-text citations and a reference list helps writers avoid plagiarism.

To learn more about APA 7th and AMA citation styles, explore the following guides:

• APA 7th Guide
• AMA Style Guide - 11th Edition
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• Library Account

Reasons for Citing Sources

Research help appointments.

Need help with your research? A reference librarian is like a tutor for finding and citing information. Schedule an appointment to get uninterrupted individual time with a librarian .

Plagiarism is the use of words and ideas written by others without giving credit to the authors of those words. You should cite the sources of information you use in your academic work because:

• Citing makes your work more credible.
• Citing tells your reader where you found your information.
• Citing allows your reader to learn more, beginning with your sources.
• Citing gives credit to the people whose words or ideas you are using.
• Citing protects you from plagiarizing.

For more information, try Purdue Online Writing Lab’s resources for avoiding plagiarism .

Learn more about what plagiarism is and how to avoid it on PCC Library’s Plagiarism page .

Writing academically: Using sources in your writing

• Academic style
• Personal pronouns
• Contractions
• Abbreviations
• Signposting
• Paragraph structure
• Using sources in your writing

Jump to content on this page:

“A fundamental part of academic study is reading the work of other people and using their ideas to develop your own.” Jeanne Godfrey, How to use your reading in your essays

Whilst advice on referencing is often about the mechanics of a particular style, it is more important to learn how to integrate those references into your writing. This is achieved by a mixture of quoting, paraphrasing and summarising the work of the authors you read or the official documents you use. This page has sections looking at what each of these mean; and when and how you should use each technique.

• Paraphrasing
• Summarising

What is a quotation?

A quotation is an unchanged piece of text from a source that you use in your own writing. They are extremely useful in particular situations (see below) but should be used sparingly as they can break up the flow of your writing and do not show the same level of understanding that putting something into your own words (paraphrasing) can. 

When should you use a quotation?

Although quotations should be used sparingly, they can be the best option in a number of situations. These include when:

• You are providing a  definition of something:

Braden and Hortin (1982:41) defined visual literacy as “the ability to understand and use images, including the ability to think, learn, and express oneself in terms of images”. 

• The authors have expressed themselves in an unusual or notable way:

"The library is dead, long live the library!" (Ross & Sennyey, 2008).

Seglem and Witte (2009) suggested that this was an even more important benefit than the widening of literacy in general, especially for students who have been previously “burned by print” (page 224).

• The words have historic or other significance (and you would not want to change them):

In his influential 1852 discourses The Idea of University, John Henry Newman wrote that during the acquisition of a university education a graduate would develop a lifelong mindset “of which the attributes are, freedom, equitableness, calmness, moderation and wisdom” (Newman, 1931:101).  

• You are quoting single words or short phrases where a paraphrase would be unhelpful:

Said redefined the idea of "orientalism", using it to refer to the misconceptions the 'west' held in relation to Asian and North African societies. 1

• A quotation, rather than a paraphrase, makes your point more justifiable because it backs it up specifically :

Despite statements of generic graduate attributes being developed and published for over 20 years in Australia, this was often done hastily (Barrie, 2006) and far from them being agreed by a ‘university community’ the development group was often “a small working party of managerial staff and nominal academic representatives” (Knewstubb & Ruth, 2015:5).

• There is no other way of re-wording it:

The report identified several attributes that were suggested as generic: “communication, research and data retrieval skills and critical thinking” were proposed most often, with “synthesis, reflective practice, motivation for independent and continuing study, interpersonal skills and time management” also being suggested (HEQC, 1997b:17)

Writing and formatting quotations

Short quotations.

If a quotation is no more than 20 words (please note if you use APA referencing this is 40 words), you should place it inside quotation marks within the main body of your paragraph. You can either refer to the author within your sentence or you can add a citation* after the quote depending on your needs. 

For example, Seels (1994:108) stated “three theoretical constructs, visual thinking, learning, and communication, help define the phrase”. This suggests... 

The Australian Higher Education Council (HEC) believes that generic graduate attributes “represent the core achievement of a university education” (HEC, 1992 quoted in Barrie, 2006:218) and they ...

Long quotations

Quotations of more than 20 words should be placed in their own paragraph , indented by 1cm from each margin. You do not use quotation marks. The paragraph should always use single line spacing , even if you have used double/1.5 elsewhere:

Graduate attributes for employability are described as:

a set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes – that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy. (Yorke, 2006)

The main change in this definition compared to the earlier definition of graduate attributes from Bowden (2000) is that that the attributes are no longer ...

* These examples are using the Harvard (Hull) referencing style. 

Editing quotations

There are times when you need to make small edits to quotations to make them work out of context, remove unnecessary information, add emphasis or acknowledge errors. The conventions for these are given here.

Adding information

Sometimes, the quotation you want to include uses a pronoun (this, these, it etc) to refer to something that has been written in full earlier and you need include the full version in order for the quotation to make sense out of the original context. It is acceptable to edit the quotation to include the full term but you must make it clear that this has been added by you. Also, when you don't include all of a sentence, you sometimes need to add words later to make the sentence flow. To do this, put the added material in square brackets :

Original: "The focus on these skills has meant that graduate attributes are now becoming more tailored to the needs of employers rather than the academic discipline." 

Edited: "The focus on [employability] skills has meant that graduate attributes are now becoming more tailored to the needs of employers rather than the academic discipline." 

-------------

Original: "This makes noise pollution one of the most serious concerns in the conservation of cetacean species".

Edited: "Noise pollution [is] one of the most serious concerns in the conservation of cetacean species".

Omitting information

If the original quotation includes a section/word that is either not relevant to your point or not needed out of context and does not change the meaning of the quotation in any way, you can remove it and indicate the omission using an ellipsis ( ... ) . Advice about the spacing of the punctuation varies. For the sake of simplicity, we suggest a space, then 3 full stops and then another space (blah ... blah).

This is also often used when quoting interviewee words in research papers.

Original : "Reading stories also causes different brain regions to activate"

Edited : "Reading stories ... causes different brain regions to activate"

Original : "by reflecting on experiences, regardless of the model used, learning can be maximised."

Edited : "by reflecting on experiences ... learning can be  maximised."

Emphasising information

If you are using a quotation where specific words are important and you want to draw the reader's attention to them, you can add emphasis by italicising the text. However, if you do this, it is important to make sure your reader knows that this is your emphasis and not from the original text. Similarly, if an author has emphasised something, you should keep the formatting the same as the original but make it clear that the emphasis was the author's and not your own:

Ausburn and Ausburn (1978:291; emphasis added ) gave their definition as "a group of skills which enable an individual to understand and use visuals for intentionally communicating with others". 

This was also the view of the Archbishop of York when he spoke about the aims of a university at the ceremony granting the Royal Charter to the University of Nottingham in 1948.  He said that:

the true, dominating purpose of a university is to make persons , to form men and women, to develop their characters, so that they make the best possible use of their lives and any natural gifts they may possess. (Garbett, 1948:2;  emphasis in original )

Acknowledging errors etc

Sometimes, you want to use a quotation but it contains what may appear to be an error to your reader. This may be an actual error (spelling or a typo for example) but other times is could be that the word usage or formatting is archaic or non-standard in some way. If you think there is a chance that your reader may think the 'error' was yours, you can acknowledge it with the Latin term [sic]  which means 'thus was it written' and shows you have reproduced it faithfully.

"it'd be great if unis [sic] could develop a person's self-knowledge"

"A moment of panic before he saw him walking along the bench [sic] downshore with the pistol hanging in his hand, his head down." (McCarthy, 2006:228)

Giving page numbers

Whenever you use a quotation you should always give the page number of the source so that the reader can find it in context.

UoH Harvard referencing

Where possible, give the page number as shown in the examples above, after the year following a colon. If it is a long quotation that spans two pages in the original, show as (2019:45-6).

If there is a large gap between where the date is given and where the quotation appears, do not include the page number after the date, instead follow the quotation itself with (page n) as is shown in the example here: 

APA referencing

Put your page number after the date with the prefix p. for a single page or pp. if the quotation spans more than one page: (2019, p.14) or (2019, pp.14-15). 

If there is a large gap between where the date is given and where the quotation appears, do not include the page number after the date, instead follow the quotation itself with (p. n) as is shown in the example here: 

Seglem and Witte (2009) suggested that this was an even more important benefit than the widening of literacy in general, especially for students who have been previously “burned by print” (p. 224).

UoH Footnote referencing

The page numbers should be given at the end of the footnotes at the bottom of the page as shown in the various examples here:

-----------------------------

1  R. Seglem, & S. Witte, 'You gotta see it to believe it: Teaching visual literacy in the English classroom', Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy , 53, 3 (2009), 216-226, 224.

2   ibid. , 225.

3  S. Bailin & H. Siegel, 'Critical thinking', in N. Blake et al. (eds.), The Blackwell guide to the philosophy of education (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003), 181-193, 183.

4  Seglem & Witte, 'You gotta see it to believe it', 226.

OSCOLA referencing

Please refer to your specific guidelines as this varies slightly for different source types.

What is paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is expressing the written thoughts of published authors in your own words. Instead of using a direct quotation (the author's exact words - see previous section), you rewrite what they have said in your own style. At university, there are generally two contexts in which you will do this:

• during notetaking whilst reading a source of information (book, journal article etc)
• during the writing of an assignment - when you will  still cite  the author(s) of the original text.

It is an essential process to learn – indeed one which your tutors expect you to perform so that you can provide  evidence of appropriate reading  and of your  understanding  of that knowledge. The risk, of course, is that of plagiarism – if your version of a published text bears too close a resemblance to the original wording. Simply altering one or two words in the original is  not enough ; your version should be  distinct  from the original. 

It is extremely important to make sure you are not accidentally changing the meaning of what the author has written in any way. Sometimes this means reading a little further in the text to ensure you’ve understood the essence of the message correctly.

So how can a piece of text be changed into a completely new form of words but one which at the same time conveys the same message or idea as the original? This page will hopefully help you.

Why you should paraphrase

There are two main reasons why you should paraphrase:

• It shows you have understood the meaning of the text fully.
• It makes your writing flow more smoothly as it keeps the text in your own writing style.

How to paraphrase

The strategy to employ is to aim for understanding . This means that, ideally, you should not have your source of information (book, journal, web page etc.) open in front of you when you are writing. If you write as you read you are more likely to plagiarise accidentally so you should either have your source of information open OR your writing - not both at the same time. (The exception is if you are quoting directly, when you must ensure you read carefully so that the quotation is accurate).

This strategy forces you to assimilate properly what you are reading before then exchanging the source of information for your notes or essay. Read a section, a few pages, a chapter, close the book or journal or website and then (and only then) open your notebook or essay. If you have thoroughly understood what you have read, you will have less difficulty expressing it in your own words without referring to the original text. If you cannot, then you have probably not really understood it and will need to read it again. (Remember, the main reason you write essays is to show your understanding). This technique is good for revision too.

Pragmatic approach to paraphrasing

Whilst the above strategy is the ideal one to use, if you are new to paraphrasing, or if English is not your first language, then you may need to take a more pragmatic approach where you are able to see the original text as you create your own version.

Here are four main tactics to use when paraphrasing effectively:

• Changing the order of information
• Using synonyms or substitute words (e.g. aim for goal, unique for different)
• Using related words such as adjectives or nouns based on the same base word (e.g. criticality instead of critical).
• Removing what isn't needed for your point.

Step by step example:

Original text (from Ryan, 2011:101):

Academic reflection, as opposed to personal reflection, generally involves a conscious and stated purpose (Moon 2006), and needs to show evidence of learning. This type of purposeful reflection, which is generally the aim in higher-education courses, and is the focus of this paper, must ultimately reach the critical level for deep, active learning to occur.

1. The best way to start is by picking out the important parts :

Academic reflection, as opposed to personal reflection, generally involves a conscious and stated purpose (Moon 2006), and needs to show evidence of learning . This type of purposeful reflection , which is generally the aim in higher-education courses , and is the focus of this paper, must ultimately reach the critical level for deep, active learning to occur.

2. Putting these together by themselves gives:

evidence learning, purposeful reflection, the aim in higher education courses, reach the critical level for deep, active learning.

[This is what you are now working on - you only need to check back on the original at the end to ensure you haven't changed the meaning]

3. Changing the order and splitting some things up gives:

Purposeful reflection, active learning, the aim in higher education courses, deep learning, reach the critical level

4. Substituting a few words for their synonyms :

Purposeful reflection, active learning, objective of university courses, deep learning, reach a critical standard

5. Changing some words to  related words

Reflecting purposefully , learn actively , objective of university courses, deep learning, reach a standard of criticality

6. Removing unnecessary parts:

Reflecting purposefully, learn, objective of university, deep learning, standard of criticality

7. Joining these together:

The ability to reflect purposefully and learn from it is one objective of a university education. For deep learning to occur, a high  standard of criticality is needed (Ryan, 2011).

You can do steps 3-6 in any order you wish.

Note how some short phrases (i.e. deep learning) remain unchanged. That is fine, it is a concept in its own right and so can stay the same.

-----------------------------------------------------

Ryan, M. (2011) Improving reflective writing in higher education: a social semiotic perspective.  Teaching in Higher Education , 16(1), 99-111.

Examples of paraphrased text

Note on citing in these examples.

Example 1 shows in-text citations in Harvard and Example 2 shows them as footnote markers. Please note that for some disciplines using Harvard you may be required to give page numbers in your in-text citations for paraphrased text - please check with your lecturers. Footnote references always give page numbers for paraphrased text when they are relevant and available. See the examples at the bottom of the Quoting  tab for how to include page numbers.

 Example 1. Original text

"We come into the world with 100 billion neurons in place and ten times as many support cells. Each child’s experiences are unique – from within the womb and throughout the years of maturation. Our brains grow at an astonishing rate – doubling in size during the first two years and increasing by 400 per cent by sixteen years of age". (Sardar, et al., 2007:103).

 Example 1. Poorly paraphrased text

People are born with 100 billion neurons already in their brain and 1,000 billion support cells. Each child's life-events are distinctive – from inside the uterus and through their formative years. Brains increase in size at a remarkable speed – doubling in magnitude by the time children are two and growing by 400 per cent by the time they are sixteen. (Sardar et al., 2007).

This is plagiarism.

 Example 1. Well paraphrased text

A human baby already has 100 billion neurons at birth, along with ten times as many other brain cells. By the second year of life, its brain will have increased in size by a factor of two and by a factor of four by age sixteen, acquiring along the way a series of experiences which will be unique to that individual (Sardar et al., 2007).

Note the different structure, not just different words.

 Example 2. Original text

"A single case can be selected for in-depth study, or several cases can be selected so that they can be compared. The intent or objective of conducting a case study plays an important role regarding the choice of research design, and there are three design variations: intrinsic case study, instrumental case study, and collective or multiple case study." 1

 Example 2. Poorly paraphrased text

An individual case can be chosen for for in-depth consideration, or a number of cases can be selected for comparison. The objective or intent of doing a case study plays a crucial role regarding the design of the research. There are three design choices: intrinsic case study, instrumental case study, and collective case study. 1

 Example 2. Well paraphrased text

Case study research can involve single or multiple cases. Multiple cases are used when comparison is required though this can limit the depth of analysis that focusing on a single case can provide. 1  Case study design can be intrinsic, instrumental or collective/multiple - the choice of which is dictated by the underlying objectives of the research. 2

In this case the citation is given after both sentences as it is less obvious that they are both from the same source.

------------------------------------

1  L. D. Bloomberg, 'Case study method', in B. B. Frey (ed), The SAGE encyclopedia of educational research, measurement, and evaluation [eBook]. (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc., 2018), 237-240, 239.

2  ibid .

What is summarising?

Summarising is similar to paraphrasing, but instead of ending up with a piece of text of similar length, your text will be significantly shorter than the original. The idea is to pick out just the points that are relevant to your own writing. Often you are summarising whole chapters of books or whole journal articles so it enables you to show the range of your reading. You will need to reference them in a similar way to paraphrasing - but if you have summarised a whole source you will not need to give a page number even if your style usually uses them for paraphrased text. If you have summarised a shorter section, from 1 or 2 pages, you should use page numbers if it is required for paraphrases.

Why summarise?

Summarising shows you are reading critically and able to pick out which points from a source are relevant to the argument  you  are making. Like paraphrasing, it shows that you have understood the information and are able to express it in your own writing style. If you can express the information from a complex source simply and concisely then you are demonstrating a high level of comprehension which will be appreciated by your tutors.

​Summarising  a journal article or book chapter

When summarising an entire source such as a journal article, you can still take a particular angle on the source and be selective about what parts of the source best back up that angle. Of course you cannot misrepresent the article, so you must read it in full first to ensure that what your are saying is not contradicting the author's intent.

If you are summarising a journal article, you can start with the abstract - after all that is usually the author's own summary of their work. For chapters in edited books, the editors often give a summary of the chapters in their introduction. You should not use this instead of reading the whole source, but it is a good first place to look as you can get an idea what the author/editor thinks is important. 

Abstracts can themselves be summarised still further to form something that you can use in your own work. For example, look at the following abstract from our own Lee Fallin's paper  Beyond books: the concept of the academic library:

The paper aims to explore the issues surrounding the user conceptualisation of academic libraries. The paper will solidify the role of academic libraries as learning spaces and problematise how libraries are conceptualised by users.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a literature-based conceptual paper and draws on a wide range of literature to challenge the concept of academic libraries and presents how they are becoming reframed as different spaces.

The paper argues that the concept of a library is at risk. While libraries have undergone substantial changes, the concept of a library has lingered. This paper demonstrated that libraries need to proactively engage users in this debate.

Originality/value

The spatial approach taken by this paper demonstrates the complicity behind the user conceptualisation of libraries. Developing an understanding of this process is an important foundation for libraries to develop their user engagement.

This is an example of a structured abstract which is required by some journals - many others are free text with no headings. Summarising this to a single paragraph (for example to use in a literature review or annotated bibliography ), may produce something like this:

Longer summary

Fallin (2016) argues that while the term ‘library’ is often framed as something universally understood, it is actually more complicated. Instead, libraries should be seen as concepts, open to a range of different interpretations and understandings. He suggests this could be problematic as there is often a mismatch between what libraries actually do and how they are understood. The traditional view of the library as a book-based institution still perpetuates but does not account for the new services libraries provide.

If you were using this source to back up an argument within an essay, you probably would not need even this much detail. The following could be enough:

Shorter summary 1

Fallin (2016) argues that although the traditional view of the library as a book-based institution still perpetuates, this does not account for the new services libraries provide.

Depending on the angle you are taking, you could choose to summarise the article differently. The main point of this summary is not found within the abstract but is heavily alluded to within the paper itself - showing how you cannot just rely on the abstract alone:

Shorter summary 2

Fallin (2016) argues that individuals conceive the academic library differently which makes it difficult for library management to create spaces that work for all users.

Analysing your summary

When summarising, you should not include your own comments or analysis within  the summary. However, you must do this before or after the summary to show that you are not just informing the reader of what the article said, but are integrating it into your own argument. Phrases like "what this means is..."; "this suggests that..."; "in the context of [essay topic], this may indicate that..." need to be used to show how the article is relevant to the claims you are making in your paragraph.

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Chapter 11: Writing Academic Paragraphs, Incorporating Sources as Evidence, & APA Referencing

Writing academic paragraphs.

The first thing that we need to establish here is that there is no specified number of sentences that must be included in a paragraph.  Rather, there are  key elements that must be present, depending upon the  purpose of that paragraph.

So, what can a paragraph do?  Here we go!

Assembling an essay is like building a puzzle out of paragraphs, which are the building blocks.  Once you figure out what each paragraph needs to do, you just need to arrange your ideas and information!

Regardless of what type of paragraphs you use in the body of your paper, your reader/professor will have expectations that they do certain things:

Video source: https://youtu.be/I0SMvLu2D1Y

Video source: https://youtu.be/KWHHXlJqFqs

Integrating evidence effectively and properly

• Determine if the evidence is necessary.   Does it add to your argument?  Would the paragraph fall apart without it?
• Introduce the evidence.  Provide the author’s name and year of publication, as well as any other context that is relevant.
• (Finish) including the citation.  Make sure that you’ve incorporated the evidence according to your referencing style and that you’ve included an in-text citation (more on that in a bit).
• Analyze the evidence.   Don’t just slap a piece of evidence on the page and expect your reader to interpret it.  You have to explain the evidence to us (what should I understand from it?) and explain why it’s important to your topic sentence and thesis statement.  PRO TIP: If you cannot do both of these things, you should likely remove that piece of evidence.

Introducing Cited Material Effectively

Including an introductory phrase in your text, such as “Jackson wrote” or “Copeland found,” often helps you integrate source material smoothly. This citation technique also helps convey that you are actively engaged with your source material. Unfortunately, during the process of writing your research paper, it is easy to fall into a rut and use the same few dull verbs repeatedly, such as “Jones said,” “Smith stated,” and so on.

Punch up your writing by using strong verbs that help your reader understand how the source material presents ideas. There is a world of difference between an author who “suggests” and one who “claims,” one who “questions” and one who “criticizes.” You do not need to consult your thesaurus every time you cite a source, but do think about which verbs will accurately represent the ideas and make your writing more engaging.

Strong Verbs for Introducing Cited Material

Video source: https://youtu.be/wt5G7XT3UlQ

It is important to remember that only about 20% of your paper should be evidence – the rest should be your own ideas and analysis.

referencing and citing in your body paragraphs

When to cite.

Any idea or fact taken from an outside source must be cited, in both the body of your paper and the reference s . The only exceptions are facts or general statements that are common knowledge. Common knowledge facts or general statements are commonly supported by and found in multiple sources. For example, a writer would not need to cite the statement that most breads, pastas, and cereals are high in carbohydrates; this is well known and well documented.  Another way to think about what constitutes common knowledge is to ask yourself: “does anyone  own this information?  Did anyone collect it, interpret it, etc?”  If not, it is typically common knowledge; however, if the answer is  yes , then you must cite the source.  For example, if a writer explained in detail the differences among the chemical structures of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, a citation would be necessary.

citing in your paper: in-text citations

Direct quotations.

In-text citations document your sources within the body of your paper. These include three vital pieces of information , in the following order:

• the author’s name
• the year the source material was published
• the page or paragraph number

When you cite, it’s important that the information appear in two places : the  in-text citation and the  reference page at the end of the paper.

Whenever you introduce evidence, you must must use in-text citations. In-text citations must provide the name of the author or authors and the year the source was published. (When a given source does not list an individual author, you may provide the source title or the name of the organization that published the material instead.) When directly quoting a source, you must include the page number where the quote appears in the work being cited. This information may be included within the sentence or in a parenthetical reference at the end of the sentence, as in these examples.

Epstein (2010) points out that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (p. 137).

Here, the writer names the source author when introducing the quote and provides the publication date in parentheses after the author’s name. The page number appears in parentheses after the closing quotation marks and before the period that ends the sentence.

Addiction researchers caution that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (Epstein, 2010, p. 137).

Here, the writer provides a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence that includes the author’s name, the year of publication, and the page number separated by commas. Again, the parenthetical citation is placed after the closing quotation marks and before the period at the end of the sentence.

As noted in the book Junk Food, Junk Science (Epstein, 2010, p. 137), “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive.”

Here, the writer chose to mention the source title in the sentence (an optional piece of information to include) and followed the title with a parenthetical citation. Note that in this example the parenthetical citation is placed before the comma that signals the end of the introductory phrase.

David Epstein’s book Junk Food, Junk Science (2010) pointed out that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (p. 137).

Another variation is to introduce the author and the source title in your sentence and include the publication date and page number in parentheses within the sentence or at the end of the sentence. As long as you have included the essential information, you can use the option that works best for that particular sentence and source.

Citing a book with a single author is usually straightforward. Of course, your research may require that you cite many other types of sources, such as books or articles with more than one author or sources with no individual author listed. You may also need to cite sources available in both print and online and nonprint sources, such as websites and personal interviews.

Self-Practice Exercise

1. In each of the sentences below, identify the mistakes with how the quote was incorporated. Look carefully; some of them are tricky and have more than one error.

One researcher outlines the viewpoints of both parties:

Freedom of research is undoubtedly a cherished ideal in our society. In that respect, research has an interest in being free, independent, and unrestricted. Such interests weigh against regulations. On the other hand, research should also be valid, verifiable, and unbiased, to attain the overarching goal of gaining obtaining generalisable knowledge (Simonsen, 2012, p. 46).

_________________________________________

2. According to a recent research study, ‘that women aged 41 and over were 5 times less likely to use condoms than were men aged 18 and younger’ (2007, p. 707).

3. According to Emlet, the rate in which older adults have contracted HIV has grown exponentially. Currently, “approximately 20% of all HIV cases were among older adults”. (Emlet, 2008).

Examples taken from: Writing Commons. (2014, September). Open Text. Retrieved from http://writingcommons.org/format/apa/675-block-quotations-apa

• The quote is not indented on either side.
• [sic] is required after “obtaining”because it is a mistake in the original.
• The period is placed after the citation not before.
• “That” should have been removed to make the quote flow with the rest of the sentence.
• There is no attributive tag and no mention of the authors in the citation: Sormanti & Shibusawa
• Single quotation marks are used instead of double quotation marks.
• The writer used an attributive tag with the name of the source’s author, then gave the name again in the citation at the end. The second one is redundant.
• The original quote used the past tense (“were”), but the transition word “currently” requires this verb to be changed to present tense (“are”) inside square brackets to make it fit.
• There is an extra period before the citation. With a short quote, you put the end punctuation after the citation.

summaries or paraphrases

When you are summarizing or paraphrasing, you are focusing on identifying and sharing the main elements of a source. This is when you put the concepts and in your own words, demonstrating you have a firm understanding of the concepts presented and are able to incorporate them into your own paper.

PARAPHRASING TOO CLOSELY TO THE ORIGINAL TEXT

One of the most common instances of plagiarism that professors encounter is when paraphrases are too close to the original text (also called source material).  For example:

While an effort has been made to change some words here, the student has essentially still copied the text almost word for word.  Now consider the following example of a fair paraphrase:

Content adapted from: https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/too-close-paraphrase

When paraphrasing, a page number is not required when you are summarizing the overall findings or argument of a paper/book.  However, if you are paraphrasing a single part or specific idea from a source, it’s good practice to include a page number.

Below are some examples of different ways that paraphrases can be cited:

Leibowitz (2008) found that low-carbohydrate diets often helped subjects with Type II diabetes maintain a healthy weight and control blood sugar levels.

The introduction to the source material (also called the attributive tag ) includes the author’s name followed by the year of publication in parentheses.

Low-carbohydrate diets often help subjects with Type II diabetes maintain a healthy weight and control blood sugar levels (Leibowitz, 2008).

The parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence includes the author’s name, a comma, and the year the source was published. The period at the end of the sentence comes after the parentheses.

Video source: https://youtu.be/q-O5QmZRI-0

Heinz (2009) found that “subjects in the low-carbohydrate group (30% carbohydrates; 40% protein, 30% fat) had a mean weight loss of 10 kg (22 lbs) over a four-month period.” These results were “noticeably better than results for subjects on a low-fat diet (45% carbohydrates, 35% protein, 20% fat)” whose average weight loss was only “7 kg (15.4 lbs) in the same period.” From this, it can be concluded that “low-carbohydrate diets obtain more rapid results.” Other researchers agree that “at least in the short term, patients following low-carbohydrate diets enjoy greater success” than those who follow alternative plans (Johnson & Crowe, 2010).

Paraphrasing practice is always a good thing! Take a look at the “summary” above. Notice that it is not really summarizing but rather quoting. While this is technically not plagiarism, it does not show any processing of the information from the original source. It is just copying and pasting; the end result seems very choppy, and a lot of the information can be generalized.

For this exercise, try to rewrite the summary in your own words.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sample Answer:

Low-carbohydrate diets may indeed be superior to other diet plans for short-term weight loss. In a study comparing low-carbohydrate diets and low-fat diets, Heinz (2009) found that subjects who followed a low-carbohydrate plan (30% of total calories) for four months lost, on average, about 3 kilograms more than subjects who followed a low-fat diet for the same time. Heinz concluded that these plans yield quick results, an idea supported by a similar study conducted by Johnson and Crowe (2010). What remains to be seen, however, is whether this initial success can be sustained for longer periods.

In revising the paragraph, you do not need to quote these sources directly. Instead, you can paraphrase the most important findings. Include a topic sentence stating the main idea of the paragraph and a concluding sentence that transitions to the next major topic in his essay.

PRO TIP:   It is extremely important to remember that even though you are summarizing and paraphrasing from another source—not quoting—you must still include a citation, including the last name(s) of the author(s) and the year of publication.

Additionally, marijuana burning creates toxins; this strategy is counterproductive, and there are numerous individual hazards associated with using the plant as medicine (Ogborne, Smart, & Adlaf, 2000).

Example taken from: Writing Commons. (2014, September). Open Text. Retrieved from http://writingcommons.org/format/apa/675-block-quotations-apa

Creating a Reference Page

The brief citations included in the body of your paper correspond to the more detailed citations provided at the end of the paper in the references section. In-text citations provide basic information—the author’s name, the publication date, and the page number if necessary—while the references section provides more extensive information, which allows your reader to follow up on the sources you cited and do additional reading about the topic if desired.

In-text citations are necessary within your writing to show where you have borrowed ideas or quoted directly from another author. These are kept short because you do not want to disrupt the flow of your writing and distract the reader. While the in-text citation is very important, it is not enough to enable your readers to locate that source if they would like to use it for their own research.

The references section of your essay may consist of a single page for a brief research paper or may extend for many pages in professional journal articles. This section provides detailed information about how to create the references section of your paper. You will review basic formatting guidelines and learn how to format bibliographical entries for various types of sources. As you create this section of your paper, follow the guidelines provided here.

What to Include in the References Section

Generally, the information to include in your references section is:

• The name(s) of the author(s) or institution that wrote the source
• The year of publication and, where applicable, the exact date of publication
• The full title of the source
• For books, the city of publication
• For articles or essays, the name of the periodical or book in which the article or essay appears
• For magazine and journal articles, the volume number, issue number, and pages where the article appears
• For sources on the web, the URL where the source is located

Before you start compiling your own references and translating referencing information from possibly other styles into APA style, you need to be able to identify each piece of information in the reference. This can sometimes be challenging because the different styles format the information differently and may put it in different places within the reference. However, the types of information each of the referencing styles requires is generally the same.

Video source: https://youtu.be/6JA3ohaKy3Q

Avoiding Plagiarism

Your research paper presents your thinking about a topic, supported and developed by other people’s ideas and information. It is crucial to always distinguish between the two—as you conduct research, as you plan your paper, and as you write. Failure to do so can lead to plagiarism.

Intentional and Accidental Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of misrepresenting someone else’s work as your own. Sometimes a writer plagiarizes work on purpose—for instance, by copying and pasting or purchasing an essay from a website and submitting it as original course work. This often happens because the person has not managed his or her time and has left the paper to the last minute or has struggled with the writing process or the topic. Any of these can lead to desperation and cause the writer to just take someone else’s ideas and take credit for them.

In other cases, a writer may commit accidental plagiarism due to carelessness, haste, or misunderstanding. For instance, a writer may be unable to provide a complete, accurate citation because of neglecting to record bibliographical information. A writer may cut and paste a passage from a website into her paper and later forget where the material came from. A writer who procrastinates may rush through a draft, which easily leads to sloppy paraphrasing and inaccurate quotations. Any of these actions can create the appearance of plagiarism and lead to negative consequences.

Carefully organizing your time and notes is the best guard against these forms of plagiarism. Maintain a detailed working reference list and thorough notes throughout the research process. Check original sources again to clear up any uncertainties. Allow plenty of time for writing your draft so there is no temptation to cut corners.

To avoid unintentional/accidental plagiarism, follow these guidelines:

• Understand what types of information must be cited.
• Understand what constitutes fair dealing of a source.
• Keep source materials and notes carefully organized.
• Follow guidelines for summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting sources.

Academic Integrity

The concepts and strategies discussed in this section connect to a larger issue—academic integrity. You maintain your integrity as a member of an academic community by representing your work and others’ work honestly and by using other people’s work only in legitimately accepted ways. It is a point of honour taken seriously in every academic discipline and career field.

Video source: https://youtu.be/0Aztn4LeHzk

Academic integrity violations have serious educational and professional consequences. Even when cheating and plagiarism go undetected, they still result in a student’s failure to learn necessary research and writing skills. Students who are found guilty of academic integrity violations face consequences ranging from a failing grade to expulsion. Employees may be fired for plagiarism and do irreparable damage to their professional reputation. In short, it is never worth the risk.

Writing for Academic and Professional Contexts: An Introduction Copyright © 2023 by Sheridan College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Using and Incorporating Sources

Why do we cite borrowed information, to avoid plagiarism & maintain academic integrity.

Misrepresenting your academic achievements by not giving credit to others indicates a lack of academic integrity. This is not only looked down upon by the scholarly community but is also punished. When you are a student that punishment could mean a failing grade or even suspension or expulsion from the university.

To Acknowledge the Work of Others

One major purpose of citations is to simply provide credit where it is due. When you provide accurate citations, you are acknowledging both the hard work that has gone into producing research and the person(s) who performed that research. Think about the effort you put into your work (whether essays, reports, or even non-academic jobs): if someone else took credit for your ideas or words, would that seem fair? Would you expect to have your efforts recognized?

To Provide Credibility to Your Work & to Place Your Work in Context

Providing accurate citations puts your work and ideas into an academic context. They tell your reader that you’ve done your research and know what others have said about your topic. Not only do citations provide context for your work but they also lend credibility and authority to your claims. For example, if you’re researching and writing about sustainability and construction, you should cite experts in sustainability, construction, and sustainable construction in order to demonstrate that you are well-versed in the most common ideas in the fields. Although you can make a claim about sustainable construction after doing research only in that particular field, your claim will carry more weight if you can demonstrate that your claim can be supported by the research of experts in closely related fields as well. Citing sources about sustainability and construction as well as sustainable construction demonstrates the diversity of views and approaches to the topic.

Further, proper citation also demonstrates the ways in which research is social: no one researches in a vacuum—we all rely on the work of others to help us during the research process.

To Help Your Future Researching Self & Other Researchers Easily Locate Sources

Having accurate citations will help you keep track as a researcher and writer of the sources and information you find so that you can easily find the source again. Accurate citations may take some effort to produce, but they will save you time in the long run. You can think of proper citation as a gift to your future researching self!

What Citation Format Do We Use?

There are many formats for citing sources, including the most prevalent in university communities: MLA, APA, and Chicago. APA (American Psychological Association) format is used most prevalently for our purposes.

• Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research. Provided by : Ohio State University Libraries. Project : Ohio State University Libraries Teaching and Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution

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Guest Essay

The Simple Math That Could Swing the Election to Biden

By Mark Penn

Mr. Penn was a pollster and an adviser to President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton from 1995 to 2008. He is chairman of the Harris Poll and chief executive of Stagwell Inc.

President Biden appears behind in all the swing states, and his campaign appears all too focused on firming up his political base on the left with his new shift on Israel , a $7 trillion budget and massive tax increases and is failing to connect on the basic issues of inflation , immigration and energy . By pitching too much to the base, he is leaving behind the centrist voters who shift between parties from election to election and, I believe, will be the key factor deciding the 2024 race.

I’ve spent decades looking at the behavior of swing voters and how candidates appeal to them, including for Bill Clinton’s re-election campaign in 1996. If Mr. Biden wants to serve another four years, he has to stop being dragged to the left and chart a different course closer to the center that appeals to those voters who favor bipartisan compromises to our core issues, fiscal discipline and a strong America.

People usually assume that turning out so-called base voters in an election matters most, since swing voters are fewer in number. And it’s true that in today’s polarized environment, Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump have about 40 percent of voters each and nothing will change those people’s minds. But in that remaining 20 percent of the electorate, voters have disproportionate power because of their potential to switch. It’s simple math: Take a race tied in the run-up 5 to 5. If one voter swings, the tally becomes 6 to 4. Two voters would then need to be turned out just to tie it up, and a third one would be needed to win.

The simple power of this math — which drove the campaigns of Mr. Clinton (with his message about “building a bridge to the 21st century”), George W. Bush (“compassionate conservatism”) and Barack Obama (“hope and change”) — has been obscured, undoubtedly by base groups like unions or PACs that have a vested interest in maintaining their sway and power. Take Michigan, a battleground state where Mr. Trump has led Mr. Biden by as many as three percentage points in the past month. To overcome that gap, Mr. Biden would need to bring out nearly 250,000 additional voters (3 percent of more than eight million registered voters) just to tie it up in a state that has already achieved a record of over 70 percent turnout in a presidential year. Or Mr. Biden could switch just 125,000 swing voters and win.

Despite this math, scared candidates are, in my experience, easily sold the idea that the Democratic base or Republican base is going to stay home in November unless they are constantly fed what they want to hear. One call from the head of a religious group, a civil rights group, a labor group and others (often called the groups), and fear runs through a campaign. A New York Times article this winter about Black pastors warning the Biden White House that his Gaza war policy could imperil re-election is a good example. Maybe if Mr. Biden were running against a well-liked centrist opponent, concern could be justified. But during a fall election against Mr. Trump, the final month of this campaign is going to see a frenzy of get-out-the-vote efforts, and I doubt the Democratic base is going to sit idly by at the thought of the Trump limo cruising up Pennsylvania Avenue. The reality is that swing voters in battleground states who are upset about immigration, inflation and what they see as extreme climate policies and weakness in foreign affairs are likely to put Mr. Trump back in office if they are not blunted.

Consider some Democratic electoral history. Mr. Biden got 81 percent of the vote in the Michigan Democratic presidential primary in February. He got roughly similar percentages in the Colorado, Texas and Massachusetts primaries — not too far below other incumbent presidents with a weak job rating. And yet for months, liberal commentators and activists pointed to the Michigan protest vote as proof that he is doomed in November over his Israel stance. But Michigan was hardly a repeat of the 1968 New Hampshire primary that effectively ended Lyndon Johnson’s re-election bid; Eugene McCarthy got 42 percent, and that was a truly sizable protest.

I believe most of the 101,000 uncommitted votes that Mr. Biden lost in Michigan will come home in the end because they have nowhere else to go and the threat Mr. Trump poses will become clearer and scarier in the next six months. But regardless, there’s a much bigger opportunity for Mr. Biden if he looks in the other direction. Mr. Trump lost nearly 300,000 votes to Nikki Haley in the Michigan Republican primary. These people are in the moderate center, and many of them could be persuaded to vote for Mr. Biden if he fine-tuned his message to bring them in. And remember to multiply by two: Persuading those 300,000 Republicans to cross party lines would have the equivalent force of turning out 600,000 Democrats. The same math applies to other battleground states, like Pennsylvania, where 158,000 people voted for Ms. Haley instead of Mr. Trump in the Republican primary, even though she dropped out seven weeks earlier.

Unfortunately, Mr. Biden is not reaching out to moderate voters with policy ideas or a strong campaign message. He is not showing clear evidence of bringing in large numbers of swing voters in the battleground states at this point. Those swing voters look for fiscal restraint without tax increases, climate policies that still give people a choice of cars and fuels and immigration policies that are compassionate to those who are here but close the borders. The balanced budget remains one of the single strongest measures that swing and other voters want. Mr. Clinton’s efforts to balance the budget set off the revolution that resulted in an eight-point win, even with third-party candidates in 1996, and catapulted his job approval ratings to above 70 percent. Instead of pivoting to the center when talking to 32 million people tuned in to his State of the Union address, Mr. Biden doubled down on his base strategy with hits like class warfare attacks on the rich and big corporations, big tax increases, student loan giveaways and further expansions of social programs despite a deficit of more than $1.1 trillion. The results quickly dissipated.

Mr. Biden’s campaign has fundamentally miscalculated on Israel. Those Haley voters are strong defense voters who would back our ally Israel unreservedly and, I believe, want to see a president who would put maximum pressure on Hamas to release hostages. By pandering to base voters with no choice, Biden is pushing the Haley vote to Mr. Trump, and so his first instincts on Israel were both good policy and good politics. Eighty-four percent of independents surveyed said they supported Israel more than Hamas in the conflict, and 63 percent said they believed a cease-fire should occur only after the hostages have been released. The more Mr. Biden has pandered to the left by softening his support of Israel, the weaker he looks, and the more his foreign policy ratings have declined. Rather than pull decisively away from Israel, Mr. Biden should instead find a plan that enables Israel to go into Rafah and that has enough precautions for Rafah’s civilians so the American president can back it.

At this point, Mr. Biden also needs to give a serious speech on the issues of crime and immigration and what they are doing to our inner cities. He has to combine policies of fair policing and treatment of DACA recipients with tougher crime and immigration policies. Seventy-eight percent of independents polled said they wanted the Biden administration to make it tougher to get into the United States illegally, but 63 percent said they ultimately wanted compromise legislation that strengthens the border while giving DACA recipients a path to citizenship. On crime, despite many violent crime metrics returning to their pre-Covid levels last year, voters have been more worried than ever. Eighty-three percent of voters said they wanted shoplifting laws to be enforced strictly , and 69 percent said they supported Justice Department intervention against city district attorneys who are pulling back prosecution of violent offenders. Mr. Biden has to be more responsive to these concerns.

Mr. Biden’s energy policies, especially his push for more electric vehicles, are not popular, either. Fifty-nine percent of Americans said they opposed the mandate that half of cars sold in the United States by 2030 be electric. In Michigan, Mr. Trump has identified a potentially killer strategy by going around telling autoworkers that electric vehicles will destroy their jobs. Unlike foreign policy issues, threats concerning the loss of auto industry jobs could directly affect hundreds of thousands of voters in Michigan.

The 2024 election is a rematch, but Mr. Biden should not assume that he will get the same result as he did in 2020 in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia and other battleground states by running the same playbook. This time around, he is seen as older, and the assessment of the job that he has done is in negative territory. While he won’t get any younger, he could still move more to the center, vacuum up swing voters who desperately want to reject Mr. Trump, strengthen his image as a leader by destroying Hamas and rally the base at the end. But that means first pushing back against the base rather than pandering to it and remembering that when it comes to the math of elections, swing is king.

Mark Penn was a pollster and an adviser to President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton from 1995 to 2008. He is chairman of the Harris Poll and chief executive of Stagwell Inc.

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