UHCL Writing Center The Importance of Citation

UHCL Writing Center What is Citation? “The act of citing or quoting a reference to an authority or a precedent” (dictionary.com). In other words: Giving credit where credit is due!

UHCL Writing Center Why is it important? Everything you create is your intellectual property. Would you want someone to steal what is yours? If you plagiarize – accidentally or on purpose – you could be in big trouble. You could be failed, or worse, expelled.

UHCL Writing Center What the university has to say: Plagiarism: a. Incorporating the work or idea of another person into one’s own work without acknowledging the source of that work or idea. b. Attempting to receive credit for work performed by another person, including papers obtained in whole or part from individuals or other sources. c. Copying copyrighted computer programs or data files belonging to someone else (University Council). ms/Academic_Honesty_Policy.pdf

UHCL Writing Center Types of Plagiarism Intentional: Knowingly copying the work of someone else, writing someone’s work for them, purchasing pre- written papers, or intentionally not citing the source of information in a document (this includes all online sources!)

UHCL Writing Center Types of Plagiarism (cont.) Accidental: Not citing correctly, forgetting to cite, paraphrasing too closely, or not knowing the correct style. Note: you can still get in trouble for accidental plagiarism!

UHCL Writing Center Types of Plagiarism (cont. 2) Self: Yes, you can plagiarize yourself! Occurs when you re-use your own work. Taken from plagiarism-ethical-shortcut-or-moral-scourge/

UHCL Writing Center When do we need to cite? Any time an idea is not your own. Any time you use another person’s words in your paper. Any time you paraphrase what another person said. When in doubt, cite!

UHCL Writing Center How do you fix plagiarism if it happens? Come to the Writing Center! We can answer your questions. Learn your major’s citation style. Learn to paraphrase correctly.

UHCL Writing Center Citation Styles APA MLA Chicago/Turabian IEEE AP A few more…

UHCL Writing Center Common Styles: APA Style American Psychological Association Used in social science fields, education, occasionally other disciplines Currently in 6 th edition Utilizes in text citation Uses cover page with running head and references page Heavily reliant on dates

UHCL Writing Center MLA Style Modern Language Association Used in humanities fields such as literature, writing Currently in 7 th edition Uses in text citation Uses no cover page; instead, uses author & page number on each page Has works cited page instead of reference page Uses author and page number in in-text citations as well

UHCL Writing Center Chicago/Turabian Chicago was the original citation style. Turabian is the academic version. Used in history, art history Currently in 16 th edition Uses footnotes and bibliography Utilizes cover page

UHCL Writing Center References Citation. (n.d.). In dictionary.com. Retrieved from University Council. (8 July 1994). Academic Honesty Policy. Retrieved from and_Forms/Academic_Honesty_Policy.pdf