Citations Created by Cat Gomez, Librarian 11-09

What Is a Citation? A citation contains important pieces of information about a primary or secondary source. These pieces of information, called elements, include items such as the name of the author, the title of an article, the title of a book or magazine, the publisher, the place of publication, and the date of publication. The citation identifies the source and enables a reader to locate it.

Check Your Citations Be consistent when citing. Include source information each time you quote, paraphrase, or use someone else's words or ideas. For more information see When Should I Cite? When you have finished writing your paper, go through it and check all parenthetical references or footnotes. Make sure that each parenthetical reference has a corresponding entry in your Works Cited or References list. Make sure that each footnote has a corresponding entry at the end of the page. If you are using endnotes, make sure that each note has a corresponding entry in your Notes or Footnotes page. Remember that including false citation information is also considered plagiarism

What Is a Bibliography? Your bibliography is an alphabetical list of sources you used when researching and writing your paper. Each entry on the list of sources is called a citation. Depending on which citation style you use, your bibliography may be titled by a different name such as:  Works Cited (a list of sources you cited in text)  Annotated Bibliography (a bibliography, which also contains a short descriptive and evaluative paragraph on each source)  Works Consulted (a list of all sources you used when writing your paper)  Selected Bibliography  List of References (a list of sources you cited in text)

Why Do I Need to Cite? Citations are needed: To acknowledge the source of information for any ideas, quotations, or pictures that you used. Claiming that another person's ideas are your own or failing to acknowledge sources that you used is called plagiarism. For more information see Avoiding Plagiarism. To provide enough information about the source you used to help a reader easily find it. To show that you have read information about your topic and have conducted research. To protect your own original ideas and words. When you cite others' work, it is very easy to see which ideas are yours and which came from other sources.

When Should I Cite? In general, you should include citations when you: Quote. If you are quoting more than two consecutive words from another source, place the words or phrase in quotes and include a citation. For example, the following quote is taken from an article in Issues & Controversies: "Critics of international adoption argue that there are better ways of helping children in poor countries that do not involve taking them abroad. Providing financial support to children's communities allows relatives and other local caregivers to look after them, opponents say" ("International Adoption"). "Critics of international adoption argue that there are better ways of helping children in poor countries that do not involve taking them abroad. Providing financial support to children's communities allows relatives and other local caregivers to look after them, opponents say" ("International Adoption"). The information in parentheses at the end of the quote is a parenthetical reference and points the reader to the complete corresponding entry in your bibliography. parenthetical referenceparenthetical reference

Paraphrase Paraphrase. If you use an idea or fact from another source and put it into your own words, you should include a citation. For example, you should include a citation if you paraphrased the quotation above as follows: Opponents of international adoption claim that adoption is not the best way to help children in poor countries. They argue that financial support would help children more as it allows relatives to look after them. ("International Adoption"). Opponents of international adoption claim that adoption is not the best way to help children in poor countries. They argue that financial support would help children more as it allows relatives to look after them. ("International Adoption").

Use unfamiliar information You do not need to cite facts if they are considered "common knowledge" or facts that people take for granted. For example, you do not need to cite the fact that the Empire State Building is in New York City. However, if you use information that you think is unfamiliar, you should cite the source. For example, you should cite the fact that the Empire State Building was built on the location of the first Waldorf-Astoria Hotel (Empire State Building). If you are not sure whether a certain fact is common knowledge or not, assume that it is unfamiliar and cite the source.

Use non-text sources If you include photographs, graphs, tables, maps, audio material, film, material from Web sites, or other formats, make sure to include a citation.

Notes: If no author is shown, begin the citation with the article title and alphabetize it by title in the Works Cited list. If the article title begins with A, An, or The, ignore it when you are alphabetizing your Works Cited list. Abbreviate the name of all months except May, June, and July when listing the date of publication and date of access. Abbreviations are: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec.

URLs: The MLA advises supplying the full URL for a Web publication if your readers are unlikely to be able to locate the source without it. Some instructors require this information as part of a citation, so the examples that follow include it; however, it is not a requirement of the MLA for every citation. URLs that take more than one line should be broken after single or double slashes, without introducing a hyphen between lines. "Government Bailouts." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 30 Mar Web. 26 June

Bibliography "Avoiding Plagiarism." Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, n.d. Web. 17 Nov