Citations
Created by Cat Gomez, Librarian 11-09
What Is a Citation?
A citation contains important pieces of
information about a primary or secondary
source.
These pieces of information, called elements,
include items such as the name of the author,
the title of an article, the title of a book or
magazine, the publisher, the place of
publication, and the date of publication.
The citation identifies the source and enables a
reader to locate it.
Check Your Citations
Be consistent when citing. Include source information
each time you quote, paraphrase, or use someone
else's words or ideas. For more information see When
Should I Cite?
When you have finished writing your paper, go through it
and check all parenthetical references or footnotes.
Make sure that each parenthetical reference has a
corresponding entry in your Works Cited or References
list. Make sure that each footnote has a corresponding
entry at the end of the page.
If you are using endnotes, make sure that each note has
a corresponding entry in your Notes or Footnotes page.
Remember that including false citation information is
also considered plagiarism
What Is a Bibliography?
Your bibliography is an alphabetical list of sources you used
when researching and writing your paper. Each entry on
the list of sources is called a citation. Depending on which
citation style you use, your bibliography may be titled by a
different name such as:
 Works Cited (a list of sources you cited in text)
 Annotated Bibliography (a bibliography, which
also contains a short descriptive and evaluative
paragraph on each source)
 Works Consulted (a list of all sources you used
when writing your paper)
 Selected Bibliography
 List of References (a list of sources you cited in
text)
Why Do I Need to Cite?
Citations are needed:
To acknowledge the source of information for
any ideas, quotations, or pictures that you
used. Claiming that another person's ideas are
your own or failing to acknowledge sources
that you used is called plagiarism. For more
information see Avoiding Plagiarism.
To provide enough information about the
source you used to help a reader easily find it.
To show that you have read information about
your topic and have conducted research.
To protect your own original ideas and words.
When you cite others' work, it is very easy to
see which ideas are yours and which came
from other sources.
When Should I Cite?
In general, you should include citations when you:
Quote. If you are quoting more than two consecutive
words from another source, place the words or phrase
in quotes and include a citation. For example, the
following quote is taken from an article in Issues &
Controversies:
"Critics of international adoption argue that there are
better ways of helping children in poor countries that
do not involve taking them abroad. Providing financial
support to children's communities allows relatives and
other local caregivers to look after them, opponents
say" ("International Adoption").
The information in parentheses at the end of the quote is
a parenthetical reference and points the reader to the
complete corresponding entry in your bibliography.
Paraphrase
Paraphrase. If you use an idea or fact from
another source and put it into your own
words, you should include a citation. For
example, you should include a citation if you
paraphrased the quotation above as follows:
Opponents of international adoption claim
that adoption is not the best way to help
children in poor countries. They argue that
financial support would help children more as
it allows relatives to look after them.
("International Adoption").
Use unfamiliar information
You do not need to cite facts if they are considered "common
knowledge" or facts that people take for granted. For
example, you do not need to cite the fact that the Empire
State Building is in New York City. However, if you use
information that you think is unfamiliar, you should cite the
source.
For example, you should cite the fact that the Empire State
Building was built on the location of the first Waldorf-Astoria
Hotel (Empire State Building).
If you are not sure whether a certain fact is common knowledge
or not, assume that it is unfamiliar and cite the source.
Use non-text sources
If you include photographs, graphs,
tables, maps, audio material, film,
material from Web sites, or other
formats, make sure to include a
citation.
Notes:
If no author is shown, begin the citation with
the article title and alphabetize it by title in the
Works Cited list.
If the article title begins with A, An, or The,
ignore it when you are alphabetizing your
Works Cited list.
Abbreviate the name of all months except
May, June, and July when listing the date of
publication and date of access. Abbreviations
are: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct.,
Nov., and Dec.
URLs:
The MLA advises supplying the full URL for a Web publication
if your readers are unlikely to be able to locate the source
without it. Some instructors require this information as part of
a citation, so the examples that follow include it; however, it is
not a requirement of the MLA for every citation.
URLs that take more than one line should be broken after
single or double slashes, without introducing a hyphen
between lines.
"Government Bailouts." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag.
Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 30
Mar. 2009. Web. 26 June 2009.
<http://www.2facts.com/article/i1300470>.
Bibliography
"Avoiding Plagiarism." Issues &
Controversies. Facts On File News
Services, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2009.
<http://www.2facts.com/article/ircs00000001>.