Cite to show your research, credit authors, and help readers find your sources.
Citing sources and plagiarism
Plagiarism is one form of academic dishonesty that “includes taking and using as one’s own, without proper attribution, the ideas, writings, or work of another person in completing an academic assignment”. (WAC 132U-126-030 Prohibited Student Conduct, Student Rights & Responsibilities p.4)
Citing a source means that you show how you took words, ideas, facts, figures, and images from another place.
A good citation
- Shows your reader you’ve done proper research by listing sources you used to get your information.
- Is a part of responsible scholarship by giving credit to other researchers and acknowledging their ideas.
- Helps you avoid plagiarism by quoting words and ideas used by other authors.
- Allows your reader to track down the sources you used through footnotes, a bibliography or reference list.
A citation is like the address of a house and consists of standard elements.
- author name(s)
- titles of books, articles, and journals
- date of publication
- page numbers
- volume and issue numbers for articles
- and others as needed