Citing is a formal way of showing where you got the information in your assignment.
Your instructors don't expect you to be an expert. Instead, they want to see that you have read and understood credible sources written by people who are experts. Show them who you know, rather than what you know, by citing all the sources you used to complete your assignment.
Citing is important for many reasons:
You need to provide a balance between outside sources and your own original ideas.
You can include information from outside sources by using:
When you paraphrase, summarize or quote another author, their ideas still need to be connected to your own. Signal phrases can help the reader know that you are using information from an outside source. Phrases and words such as "according to", "states", or "argues" can be used to introduce a paraphrase, summary or quotation. After using outside information, explain why the source is significant or how the idea relates to your own argument.
You must cite all sources used in all assignments that you create. It does not matter what format your assignment is in, or where you use a quote, summary, paraphrase or statistics.
Always cite:
Direct quotations taken from sources - place quotation marks around the words in direct quotes.
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.)
A summary is a condensed version of information from another source. Summaries usually highlight the main points discussed in a source.
When you summarize:
A paraphrase is a restatement of another person's ideas in your own words.
When you paraphrase, you must:
Paraphrasing tips:
Quotes are a word-for-word copy of what another author said.
When you quote:
The Citation Exception: Common Knowledge
The only source material you do not have to cite is information that's considered common knowledge. Common knowledge generally refers to any well-established, uncontroversial fact about the world, or a fact that cannot be attributed to just a single source.