Remember: Citing your sources gives credit to work that someone else did for you; it also makes your work more credible and scholarly.

When TO Cite

When NOT TO Cite

• If you use a "direct quote" (word for word), even if you are only borrowing a single key word, you need to tell your reader the origin of the quotation.
• You also need to cite a source:
  • if take the ideas or opinions of another author and put them in your own words (paraphrase)
  • if you restate an expert's theory or opinion
  • if you use facts that are not common knowledge
  • if you need to provide an informational or explanatory note

• If the information is well known and indisputable, including mathematical and scientific facts
• Statistics and information that can easily be found in multiple sources and are not likely to change from one source to the next.
  

• Parenthetical citations are the most commonly used citation format for student research papers.
• The Parenthetical is used for docuementation purposes within the formal writing.

This in-text citation system directs readers to a "Works Cited" (bibliography) list at the end of a project. The in-text reference usually includes an author's last name and location in the text being cited (page or paragraph number).

• Cite direct quotes (word for word), paraphrases (in your own words), ideas peculiar to an author, case studies, statistics, and graphics including pictures, maps, charts, diagrams, and research results.
• Place citations directly after the quotation or paraphrase.
• Include only the author's last name and page/paragraph number(s) in parentheses at the end of the sentence: (Wynkoop 75).
• Use the title of the source as listed on the works-cited page if no author or editor is credited: (Department of the Interior 21).
• If the author's name appears in the same sentence as the cited material include only the page number: (283).
• If more than one work by the same author is cited, use the author's last name, keywords from the title and page/paragraph number (Snout, The Nose Knows 12).

• "The students were energized and motivated about the year end charge" (Williams 7).
  [Author's Last name and page/paragraph number]
  
• The end of the year brings a level of energy and excitement that motivates students (Williams 7).
  [Author's Last name and page/paragraph number]
  
• Williams has seen an increase in energy and motivation near the end of the year (7).
  [Cite only the page number if the author's name appears in the sentence]
  
• The end of the year brings a level of energy and excitement that motivates students (Williams, Middle School 7).
  [More than one work included by an author, also include keywords from the title]
  
• Teachers struggle to maintain student motivation near the end of the school year (Educational Strategies 21).
  [If no author is credited, use the title of the source as it is listed in your works cited (bibliography)]

Works Cited (Bibliography)

• Contain properly formatted bibliographic citations.
• Be organized alphabetically by the first word(s) that appear in the citation. This is usually an author's name or the title of a work if an author is not listed.