How to Cite Your Sources and Create a Reference List
No Plagiarism, Please!
When you use information created by another person, including text, photographs, diagrams, and charts, you must give them credit for their work. When you quote them exactly by copying what they say from their text, you must include a citation within your paper. If you don't do this, the assumption is that everything in the paper is your original work. If this is
not true, then you are essentially stealing ideas from the original author. This is called plagiarism, and is unethical and even illegal in some settings. If you plagiarize another person's work in a college assignment, you will often receive an automatic failing grade. Teachers and college professors have very tricky ways to find out if you are plagiarizing, so
DON'T DO IT!
Two of the most common formats for citation and referencing another author's works are the Modern Language Association (MLA) style and the American Psychological Association (APA) style. The Purdue Online Writing Lab, or OWL, has everything you will ever need to cite the works you use in your writing assignments. You can link to the OWL at: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
Check with your teacher to find out which format you should use.
not true, then you are essentially stealing ideas from the original author. This is called plagiarism, and is unethical and even illegal in some settings. If you plagiarize another person's work in a college assignment, you will often receive an automatic failing grade. Teachers and college professors have very tricky ways to find out if you are plagiarizing, so
DON'T DO IT!
Two of the most common formats for citation and referencing another author's works are the Modern Language Association (MLA) style and the American Psychological Association (APA) style. The Purdue Online Writing Lab, or OWL, has everything you will ever need to cite the works you use in your writing assignments. You can link to the OWL at: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
Check with your teacher to find out which format you should use.
For the purpose of this website we will use MLA format for citations, and assume that you will be using primarily electronic sources and books in your research. Here are some examples, formatted using the MLA.
An in-text citation points your reader toward the reference in your bibliography where you found the information. It should be as clear to the reader as possible, so may include author's last name, the year of publication, and the page. Here are a couple of examples:
The Mayo Clinic (1) lists five health benefits of walking:
In this case you only need to give the page number, because there is only one Mayo Clinic resource and you have said where it is from.
The five health benefits of walking are (Mayo Clinic Staff, 1):
In this case you need to give the author of the source as well as the page number, because your text did not point to the resource.
Both of these point to the entry on your Works Cited page for the Mayo Clinic page on the benefits of walking.
The Mayo Clinic (1) lists five health benefits of walking:
In this case you only need to give the page number, because there is only one Mayo Clinic resource and you have said where it is from.
The five health benefits of walking are (Mayo Clinic Staff, 1):
In this case you need to give the author of the source as well as the page number, because your text did not point to the resource.
Both of these point to the entry on your Works Cited page for the Mayo Clinic page on the benefits of walking.
Your Works Cited page is the last one in your report. Here's what you need to include for websites and web
articles:
Lastname, Firstname MI. "Title of Article." Website. Version number. Publisher of the Article. Year published. Web. Date
you accessed the information (29 October, 2013). URL
Note that MLA no longer requires the URL, but it may be included at the author's or teacher's discretion.
articles:
- Author's name if one is listed: last name comma first name middle initial (ln, fn mi.).
- Title of the article on the webpage, using standard title capitalization and in quotations.
Title of the website in italics, using standard title capitalization. - Version number if available, otherwise drop this field.
- Publisher information using standard capitalization.
- Date it was published in day month, year format.
- Medium of publication. This will be Web. for Internet articles.
- Date you accessed the article, in day month, year format.
- URL
Lastname, Firstname MI. "Title of Article." Website. Version number. Publisher of the Article. Year published. Web. Date
you accessed the information (29 October, 2013). URL
Note that MLA no longer requires the URL, but it may be included at the author's or teacher's discretion.
To reference a book you used, the format is a little different. It will include the following information:
Lastname, Firstname MI. Title of Book. City of Publication:
Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.
- Author's name: last name comma first name middle initial
period. (ln, fn mi.).
- Title of the book, in italics (slanted writing) with standard title capitalization.
- City of Publication: Publisher
- Year of publication
- Medium of publication. This will be Print. for books.
Lastname, Firstname MI. Title of Book. City of Publication:
Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.
This is what your Works Cited page would look like for three Internet resources and one book:
Works Cited
"Benefits of Walking." 2013. American Heart Association. 9 Sep. 2013.
<http://www.startwalkingnow.org/whystart_benefits_walking.jsp>.
Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print.
Mayo Clinic Staff. "Walking: Trim Your Waistline, Improve Your Health." 2013. Mayo Clinic. 9
Sep. 2012. <http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/walking/HQ01612/NSECTIONGROUP=2>.
Rauh, Sherry. "Is Your Baby On Track?" 2006. Web MD. 9 Sep. 2013<http://children.webmd.com/features/is-your-baby-on-
track?page=3>.
Works Cited
"Benefits of Walking." 2013. American Heart Association. 9 Sep. 2013.
<http://www.startwalkingnow.org/whystart_benefits_walking.jsp>.
Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print.
Mayo Clinic Staff. "Walking: Trim Your Waistline, Improve Your Health." 2013. Mayo Clinic. 9
Sep. 2012. <http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/walking/HQ01612/NSECTIONGROUP=2>.
Rauh, Sherry. "Is Your Baby On Track?" 2006. Web MD. 9 Sep. 2013<http://children.webmd.com/features/is-your-baby-on-
track?page=3>.
Notice that the second line of an entry is indented, not the first. Notice also that the resources are listed in alphabetical order by the first piece of information that's available.