Citations
Frequently asked questions
Q: Is it still plagiarism if I didn’t intentionally copy
someone else’s work and present it as my own, that
is, if I plagiarized it by accident?

A:Yes, it is still plagiarism. Leaving out the quotation
marks around someone else’s words or omitting the
attribution after a summary of someone else’s theory
may be just a mistake=but faculty can only judge what
you turn in to them, not what you intended.
Q: If I include a list of works consulted at the end of
my paper, doesn’t that cover it?

A: No. A works cited list (bibliography) tells your readers
what you read but leaves them in the dark about how and
where this material has been used in your paper. Putting one
or more references at the end of a paragraph containing
source material is a version of the same problem. The
solution is to cite the source at the point that you quote or
paraphrase or summarize it. To be even clearer about what
comes from where, also use what are called in-text
attributions.
Q: Are there some kinds of information that I do
not need to document?

A: Yes—common knowledge and facts you can find in almost
any encyclopedia or basic reference text generally don’t need
to be documented (e.g., John F. Kennedy became President of
the U.S. in 1960). This distinction can get a little tricky
because it isn’t always obvious what is and is not common
knowledge. Often you need to spend some time in a
discipline before you discover what others take to be known
to all. When in doubt, cite the source.
Q: If I put the information from my sources into my
own words, do I still need to include citations?

A:Yes, rewording someone else’s idea doesn’t make it
your idea. Paraphrasing is a useful activity because it
helps you to better understand what you are reading,
but paraphrases and summaries have to be documented
and carefully distinguished from ideas and information
you are representing as your own.
Q: If I don’t actually know anything about the
subject, is it okay to hand in a paper that is taken
entirely from various sources?

A: It’s okay if (1) you document the borrowings, and (2)
the assignment called for summary. Properly
documented summarizing is better than plagiarizing, but
most assignments call for something more. Often
comparing and contrasting your sources will begin to
give you ideas, so that you can have something to
contribute.
Q: Is it plagiarism if I include things in my paper
that I thought of with another student or a
member of my family?

A: The Academic Behavior Code, under the category
called “collusion,” allows for students’ cooperative
efforts only with the explicit consent of the instructor.
The same general rule goes for plagiarizing yourself—
that is, for submitting the same paper in more than one
class. If you have questions about what constitutes
collusion in a particular class, be sure to ask your
professor.
Works Cited

Cole, Sally, and Elizabeth Kiss. “What Can We Do
About Student Cheating?” About Campus. MayJune 2000: 5-12.
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research
Papers, 5th Ed. New York: MLA, 1999.
Hult, Christine A. Researching and Writing Across the
Curriculum. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1996.
Muhlenberg College Student Handbook, 2000-2001.
Rosenwasser, David, and Jill Stephen. Writing
Analytically, 2nd ed. Ft. Worth: Harcourt, 2000.
In-text citation
Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry
was marked by a "spontaneous overflow
of powerful feelings" (263).
 Romantic poetry is characterized by the
"spontaneous overflow of powerful
feelings" (Wordsworth 263).
 Wordsworth extensively explored the
role of emotion in the creative process
(263).

Indirect Sources
Sometimes you may have to use an
indirect source. An indirect source is a
source cited in another source. For such
indirect quotations, use "qtd. in" to
indicate the source you actually consulted.
For example:
 Ravitch argues that high schools are
pressured to act as "social service
centers, and they don't do that well" (qtd.
in Weisman 259).

Citing with no known author
When a source has no known author, use a
shortened title of the work instead of an
author name. Place the title in quotation marks
if it's a short work (such as an article) or italicize
it if it's a longer work (e.g. plays, books, television
shows, entire Web sites) and provide a page
number.
 We see so many global warming hotspots in
North America likely because this region has
"more readily accessible climatic data and more
comprehensive programs to monitor and study
environmental change . . ." ("Impact of Global
Warming" 6).

Personal Interview
Personal interviews refer to those
interviews that you conduct yourself.
 Purdue, Pete. Personal interview. 1 Dec.
2000.

Speeches or Lectures

Stein, Bob. "Computers and Writing
Conference Presentation." Purdue
University. Union Club Hotel, West
Lafayette, IN. 23 May 2003. Keynote
Address.
Work of Art

Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV.
1800. Museo del Prado, Madrid.
Movies

The Usual Suspects. Dir. Bryan Singer. Perf.
Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz
Palminteri, Stephen Baldwin, and
Benecio del Toro. Polygram, 1995. Film.
TV Episode

"The One Where Chandler Can't Cry."
Friends:The Complete Sixth Season. Writ.
Andrew Reich and Ted Cohen. Dir. Kevin
Bright. Warner Brothers, 2004. DVD.
Digital Files
Beethoven, Ludwig van. Moonlight Sonata.
Crownstar, 2006. MP3.
 Smith, George. “Pax Americana: Strife in a
Time of Peace.” 2005. Microsoft Word file.
 Bentley, Phyllis. “Yorkshire and the
Novelist.” The Kenyon Review 30.4
(1968): 509-22. JSTOR. PDF file.

Social Media

http://guides.ucf.edu/content.php?pid=543
98&sid=399078