1. Informal Documentation How to provide source information in an informal research essay.

2. Why must we document? Give credit due to sources Provide information so reader can check the credibility of our arguments Allow readers to learn more about the topic Avoid Plagiarism!

3. Caveat Every professor/teacher could have his/her own preferred method of informal documentation. Check with them first. Otherwise, these methods should work.

4. Textual Identification Simply mention the author/title of the article/title of the source in your text: According to Donna Smithson in her article “Can We Afford to Fight Terrorism?” in Time, the war on terror costs upwards of $2 billion a month.

5. In-text Citation Provide the bibliographic information necessary at the end of the information inside parentheses: Critics of the Iraq War point out that it costs around $2 billion a month to fight it (Smithson, “Can We Afford to Fight Terrorism?” Time).  Note the period after the parentheses

6. Combination To make your sentence read more smoothly, you can place some of the bibliographic information in your text and some in parentheses. Donna Smithson claims that the Iraq War costs the U.S. around $2 billion a month (“Can We Afford to Fight Terrorism?” Time).  Again, note the period after the parentheses.

7. Online Sources Actually, this follows the same format as any other source: author (if there is one), title of article, source. Fighting the war on terrorism costs around $2 billion a month (Smithson, “Can We Afford to Fight Terrorism?” Time.com).  Note: You do not need to provide the web address in informal documentation

8. Other Information Don’t use endnotes because it is difficult to make them specify which specific information came from which source. Title of newspapers, magazines, news shows, and websites should be italicized. Formal research techniques are much more rigid in nature, so be sure not to confuse the two. Ask your professor what he/she wants you to do.