Check out our Plagiarism Tutorial to learn more about using sources in your assignments.
Direct quotations taken from sources - place quotation marks around direct quotes as you write them down.
Paraphrased ideas and opinions taken from someone else's work.
Summaries of ideas taken from someone else's work.
Factual information, including statistics or other data unless it is considered common knowledge.
You must cite all sources used in all assignments that you create. It does not matter what format your assignment (for example, presenation or paper) is in or where in your assignment you use a quote, summary, paraphrase or statistics.
When writing an essay, the only source material you do not have to cite is information that is considered common knowledge. Common knowledge generally refers to any well-established, uncontroversial fact about the world, or a fact that cannot be attributed to a single source. However, common knowledge does not necessarily mean that everyone knows it.
A general rule is that you can consider information common knowledge if you can find that information uncredited in 5 credible sources.
If you're not sure if something is common knowledge, it's better to be safe and cite it!
If the article has a known author(s)
Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year website was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Title of page: Subtitle (if any). Retrieved Month Day,Year site was last viewed (if content is likely to change over time), from URL
If the content could change over time, include the Month Day, Year you viewed the site after the word "Retrieved" and before the words "from URL"
| Example |
Williamson, J. (2018). Canada: Business culture. Retrieved February 17, 2018, from http://www.globalroadwarrior.com/#mode=country®ionId=27&uri=country-content&nid=13.08&key=country-attire Note: As this content is likely to change over time, the date the website was viewed was included in the retrieval information. |
| In-Text Paraphrase |
(Author Last Name, Year) Example: (Williamson, 2018) |
| In-Text Quote |
(Author Last Name, Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section) Example: (Williamson, 2018, Attire: Climate and region section, para. 2) Note: When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph in that section to identify where your quote came from. |
If the article doesn't have an author:
Title of page: Subtitle (if any). (Year website was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Retrieved Month Day,Year site was last viewed (if content is likely to change over time), from URL
If the content could change over time, include the Month Day, Year you viewed the site after the word "Retrieved" and before the words "from URL"
| Example |
Canada: Education structure. (2018). Retrieved February 17, 2018, from http://www.globalroadwarrior.com/#mode=country®ionId=27&uri=country-content&nid=62.18&key=country-ed-structure Note: As this content is likely to change over time, the date the website was viewed was included in the retrieval information. |
| In-Text Paraphrase |
("Title," Year) Example: ("Canada," 2018) |
| In-Text Quote |
("Title," Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section) Example: ("Canada," 2018, Grading system) Note: When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph in that section to identify where your quote came from. In this example, there is only one paragraph under the specific heading, so no paragraph number is needed. |
If the author is known and entry has a doi number:
Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of entry. In Editor's First Initial. Second Initial if given. Last Name (Ed.), Name of encyclopedia or dictionary (edition if given and is not first edition). doi: doi number
| Example |
Gannon, P. (n.d.). Brain evolution. In AccessScience Mcgraw-Hill encyclopedia of science and technology (10th ed.). doi: 10/1036/1097-8542.YB040925 |
| In-Text Paraphrase |
(Author's Last Name, Year) Example: (Gannon, n.d.) |
| In-Text Quote |
(Author's Last Name, Year, p. page number or section name and paragraph number) Example: (Gannon, n.d., Comparative Anatomy section, para. 1) Note: When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph in that section to identify where your quote came from. |
If there is no author or doi:
Title of entry. (Year of Publication). In Editor's First Initial. Second Initial if given. Last Name (Ed.), Name of encyclopedia or dictionary (edition if given and is not first edition). Retrieved from Database Name database.
| Example |
Landscape gardening. (2004). In K. Barber (Ed.), The Canadian Oxford dictionary (2nd ed.). |
| In-Text Paraphrase |
("Title of Entry," Year) Example: ("Landscape Gardening," 2004) |
| In-Text Quote |
("Title of Entry," Year, p. page number or section name and paragraph number) Example: ("Landscape Gardening," 2004) Note: This entry has no page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings so this information is left out of the citation. If a dictionary or encyclopedia entry has no author, the in-text citation should include the title of the entry. The title of the entry should be in quotation marks, with each word starting with a capital letter. |
Corporate Author Name. (Year of Publication). Title of document: Subtitle if given. Retrieved from http://www.xxxxxxx
Note: If the author and publisher are different people/organizations, then you should include a note about the publisher in the Retrieved from statement: Retrieved from Agency Name website: http://www.xxxxxx
| Example |
United States Census Bureau. (n.d.). Annual growth rate - custom region - Canada. Retrieved from https://census.gov/data-tools/demo/idb/region.php?N=%20Results%20&T=11&A=separate&RT=0&Y=2018&R=-1&C=CA |
|
In-Text |
(Corporate Author Name, Year) |
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by