Citing your sources

LIBR 2100 - Introduction to Research in the Information Age

Citing your sources:

• Citing your sources allows your readers to view the materials that you used when researching your paper

• Citing means providing information that will allow those articles, books, or websites to be found

• Everything you use in research, (books, an article from a full text database or a page from the Internet) must be cited.

Citation elements

• A citation consists of brief information like • author, • title, • Publisher & place of publication, • publication date, • Volume and issue number, for journals• and, in the case of electronic information, a URL.

• This information can be found on the book, article, webpage, report, etc.

Citation elements can befound on the item

AUTHOR

TITLE

EDITION

PUBLICATION YEAR

PUBLISHER INFORMATION

Citation elements can befound in your database results

Citation elements: article title, author, journal title, date, volume, issue, page numbers, DOI

Citation elements can befound in the item records of online journals

Journal article title

Journal title, date, volume, issue, page numbers.

DOI (digital object identifier)

Authors

Where do you use the citation elements?

• In your text when using quotes and paraphrasing

• Author, date and page are required next to the quotation (or use a number for endnotes or footnotes)

• At the end of your paper in your bibliography or reference list

• The reference list or bibliography is the place where you are required to provide a full citation.

Citation styles

Different disciplines require different formats.

• APA – Psychology, Education, Information Technology, Business Administration

• MLA – English

• Chicago - History

MLA Style

MLA=Modern Language Association. Used especially in English.

(author’s last name + page #) + Works Cited

Example: One author comments that “Writing well is a skill, just like skiing well or playing the saxophone well” (Rookeix).

Works CitedRooke, Constance. The Clear Path: A Guide to Writing English Essays. Toronto: Nelson, 1995.

APA Style

APA=American Psychological Association. Used in the social sciences.

(author’s last name, date of publication, p. page number) + References

Example: One author comments that “Writing well is a skill, just like skiing well or playing the saxophone well” (Rooke, 1995, p. ix).

ReferencesRooke, C. (1995). The clear path: A guide to writing English essays. Toronto: Nelson.

Chicago Style

Footnotes or endnotes, usually in addition to a bibliography.For notes, order them numerically, in superscript1

For the bibliography, order them alphabetically.

Example: One author comments that “Writing well is a skill, just like skiing well or playing the saxophone well.”1

Endnotes1 Constance Rooke, The Clear Path: A Guide to Writing

English Essays (Toronto: Nelson, 1995), ix.

Chicago Style (cont.)

For subsequent references to the same work, a shortened version is acceptable:

5 Rooke, Clear Path, 12.6 Ibid., 21.

BibliographyRooke, Constance. The Clear Path: A Guide to Writing

English Essays. Toronto: Nelson Canada, 1995.

A tip & a warning

• Citation software and citation tips can help with managing citations and creating bibliographies. They are great tools!

• However, automated software tools will always be susceptible to errors especially when citation requires your judgement.

• Always check your bibliographies!

Factors to look out for in all the citation styles, or why we must always consult our citation guides

• The number of authors of a work will affect the way an in-text citation is written

• Where you found your article (or chapter), whether in print, from a subscription database, or from an open access journal site will affect your bibliographic entry

• MLA makes a distinction between journals with continuous pagination between issues and those where each issue begins at page 1.

• ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR CITATON GUIDE!!!

Paraphrasing:

Many people inadvertently commit plagiarism when paraphrasing others' words and ideas, believing they only have to change a few words around. Not true. Paraphrasing is OK when:– you do not follow the original source too closely AND – you give credit to the original writer

Hint: If you are going to paraphrase a section, read the passage over several times very carefully and then write your notes from memory.

Paraphrasing example

Original passage:"But life is never all hardship for a growing boy. The

surrounding country was wild enough for any imaginative youngster to find adventure in” (Bryce, 1997, p. 25).

Unacceptable paraphrase:For a growing boy, life is never all hardship. For anyone with

imagination, the countryside was wild enough for adventures.

Acceptable paraphrase:According to Robert Bryce, in a countryside like the one Cook grew up in, an adventurous boy could compensate for life's hardships. (Bryce, 1997, p. 25)

This example is modified from: www.montgomerycollege.edu/library/paraphrasing.htm

Paraphrase or Quote?

Either method may be acceptable. Some general tips:

- Cite the original source when paraphrasing.

- Different disciplines often favour one method over another

- Do not overuse direct quotes.

- Long quotes are formatted differently.

When not to cite:

• When you are writing up your own original observations, thoughts, or opinions.

• When you are discussing items of common knowledge such as the year of Canadian confederation or the fact that Ottawa is the capital of Canada.

• Common knowledge is subjective and will vary by discipline.