What Is Citation?
(From p.org sponsored by turnitin)
Published May 18, 2017
A "citation" is the way you tell your readers that certain material in your work came from another source. It also gives your readers the information necessary to find that source again, including:
- information about the author
- the title of the work
- the name and location of the company that published your copy of the source
- the date your copy was published
- the page numbers of the material you are borrowing
Why should I cite sources?
Giving credit to the original author by citing sources is the only way to use other people's work without plagiarizing. But there are a number of other reasons to cite sources:
- citations are extremely helpful to anyone who wants to find out more about your ideas and where they came from
- citations demonstrate that you have synthesized and put together different ideas and points of view to support or refute your argument
- citing sources shows the amount of research you've done
- citing sources strengthens your work by lending outside support to your ideas