Using Outside Sources in Your Research Papers T. Greene Northern Essex Community College

Use of Sources In this presentation, you will learn how to use sources correctly in your writing and how to avoid plagiarism.

Why is it important to use sources correctly? In the world of research and scholarship, ideas belong to the people who think them up. Scholars make their living off of trading their ideas in the same way that songwriters make money off their music or moviemakers make money from DVD sales

Why is it important to use sources correctly? In the same way that there are laws that prevent making illegal copies of a song or a movie, it is also inappropriate (and sometimes illegal) to make unauthorized copies of people’s ideas, written work, lectures or Web site contents.

Why is it important to use sources correctly? Yet, at the same time, it is important to scholars that they make ideas available for others to use. Sharing and using ideas (but not stealing them) increases everyone’s knowledge.

Why is it important to use sources correctly? So scholars have developed systems of rules and conventions that allow researchers to use each other’s ideas, while ensuring that the “owner” of an idea gets credit for having conceived it. Quotations, citations and references are the tools used by professional scholars (and students in this course) to give credit where it is due.

What is correct use of sources? Whenever you use someone else’s ideas, you must clearly indicate that the ideas are not your own and give credit to the “owner” of the material. If you Quote text from a book, magazine, lecture, broadcast or Web site Paraphrase material from one of these sources Use an image, diagram, table or figure from a published source Present another person’s idea, opinion or theory …you must cite your source.

What is Plagiarism? Plagiarism is presenting another person’s ideas, words, theories, opinions, images or other information as your own. As a violation of the academic honesty code, academic institutions take plagiarism very seriously.

How serious is plagiarism? Plagiarism is considered a form of cheating, so incidents of plagiarism are reported to the Dean of Students office, and incident reports go into your academic record. At many schools, including NECC, you can be expelled for plagiarism. Having a plagiarism incident on your record can also prevent your being accepted into some academic programs (such as the School of Nursing) and will follow you as part of your record when you apply to another school.

What’s the difference between plagiarism and misuse of sources? Plagiarism is a serious offense that gets reported to the Dean’s office. The following are some examples of plagiarism: Copying your paper entirely or partly from a book or other published source without giving credit Buying a paper from a papermill or custom paper-writing service Allowing someone else to write your paper and presenting it as your own work Misuse of sources is often accidentally forgetting to give credit or not knowing how to give credit. The following are some examples of misuse: Forgetting to include a bibliography or list of works cited with an assignment Forgetting or not knowing about the need to quote something taken from an outside source Copy/pasting a picture or chunk of text from a Web site without saying where it came from

So the takeaway from this presentation so far is this: Never turn in something you did not write yourself as your own work, and always cite when you use information from another source.

So how do I use a source correctly? A correct use of a source has three components: The quote, or other person’s idea (usually text) that you are using, enclosed in quotes if necessary The citation: identifies briefly where the information came from The reference: that gives the complete name of the source with information about how to find it

The lions of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction. Example Suppose you have the quote below and you want to use in a paper you are writing: The lions of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction. (This is a line from a poem called “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” by William Blake.)

The lions of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction. Example Since William Blake, and not you, originally said this, you have to put it in quotation marks and cite the source. The lions of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction.

Example Suppose the text to the right is your paper, and you’ve reached the point where you want to put your quote: Many famous poets in history have had interesting things to say about teaching and learning. Sometimes the things they have written are not what you would expect.

Example When you insert your quote from William Blake, you put quotation marks around it to show that it’s not your writing. But the citation isn’t complete yet. Many famous poets in history have had interesting things to say about teaching and learning. Sometimes the things they have written are not what you would expect. For example, one famous poet wrote “The lions of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction.”

Example The last piece of this part of the citation is the name of the author and the page number in the book (or other source) where you read the quote. Many famous poets in history have had interesting things to say about teaching and learning. Sometimes the things they have written are not what you would expect. For example, one famous poet wrote “The lions of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction” (Blake, 56).

Example Another way to cite the source is to include the name of the author in the text of your sentence, in which case you can leave the author’s name out of the parentheses at the end. Many famous poets in history have had interesting things to say about teaching and learning. Sometimes the things they have written are not what you would expect. For example, William Blake wrote “The lions of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction” (56).

Example Both of these ways of showing the citation are correct, and you can mix & match them in the same document. Which one you use is a question of style and personal preference. For example, William Blake wrote “The lions of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction” (56). For example, a famous poet wrote “The lions of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction” (Blake, 56).

Example There’s one more very important part to the correct use of sources. The last page of your essay or document should be a page called “Works Cited.” This page contains the complete information on the sources cited in the text. For example, a famous poet wrote “The lions of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction” (Blake, 56). Works Cited Blake, William. “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.” New York: Signet Books, 1976.

Example This allows the reader to backtrack the information that you cite in the text to the original source. In this case, your reader would know, even though you didn’t say so in the text, that this quote appears in a copy of “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” published by Signet Books in 1976. Every citation in the text of your document must have a corresponding entry in the list of works cited. For example, a famous poet wrote “The lions of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction” (Blake, 56). Works Cited Blake, William. “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.” New York: Signet Books, 1976.

If a citation is missing any of these components… Quotation marks (unless it’s a paraphrase) to show that the information came from another source Citation that shows the author’s name (either as part of the text or inside the parentheses) and page number Entry in the “Works Cited” list that gives the complete reference …then it is a misuse of the source.

…but I learned to use footnotes. The citation style demonstrated in this lesson is only one of several different sets of citation rules used by researchers in different fields. Some styles use footnotes or end notes. Some styles put the year of publication into the parentheses with the name of the author and page number. Some include the complete reference in the footnote instead of having a list of works cited. But all styles share the same vital elements: they give credit to the originator of the idea and provide the necessary information for the reader to backtrack to the original source.

Which style should I use? For this class, you are required to use the MLA style If you are used to another style or know that a different style is used in your professional field, bear in mind that you’ll be changing styles later on.

Where are the Rules for MLA Style? The ultimate authority on MLA style rules is the book MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (currently in its 6th edition). The handout you receive in class is based on this book. You can also find many helpful guides to MLA style for free on the Web by searching “MLA Style.”

Noodle Tools Noodle Tools is a software program that automatically formats your works cited list in the style you specify, including MLA style. You fill out a series of questions on each of your cited sources, and Noodle Tools automatically compiles the information you provide into a correct Works Cited page. You can access Noodle Tools on the NECC library Web site.

General Knowledge General knowledge is widespread information that no one in particular can claim ownership of. It is usually found in multiple sources and would be known by: A typical informed person A person with a background in the area you are writing about You do not have to cite a source for general knowledge.