Scholarly Conversation Requires Identifing Others' Ideas and Giving Credit
- Authors whose work you cite must be given credit.
- Your professors and peers want to make sure you're using reputable, credible sources.
- If people want to examine the data you use, they need to know where to find it.
- If people want to trace the origins of your argument, they need to know where your ideas come from.
- If you don't cite your sources, you could be accused of plagiarism.
Why is Citing Sources so Complicated?
Style guides aren't really complicated, but they can be tedious. There are many different citation styles, but most students need to learn to follow the conventions of MLA, APA, or Chicago or Turabian. Style guides are about more than than just citing sources of information or ideas. Guides can help you improve the style of your writing, for example.
Any citation you provide should enable your reader to find that source.
It's a good idea to purchase a copy of the style guide that your major or graduate program follows: MLA for the humanities, APA for the social sciences and psychology, and Chicago for Art History.
Click here to access our guide about various citation styles.
Online Help for Citing Sources
The Excelsior Online Writing Lab offers excellent instruction regarding various style guides.
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) offers popular instruction regarding various style guides. Click Research & Citation for particular styles.