Citing Sources
From PhillipsWiki
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Why Cite?
Avoiding Plagiarism -- Presenting another person's ideas and writings (no matter what the source) is extremely dishonest and constitutes plagiarism.
Providing Authority -- Using other people's ideas helps show support for your thinking and writing.
Tracing your Research -- Showing your reader what sources you used allows them to check your research. this is an important step in the academic process.
Two Steps of Citations
Documenting your sources (aka the citation process) can be broken down into two main steps: Referencing your sources as you write -- Typically this is done using footnotes, endnotes, or an -"in-text" (parenthetical) style. Constructing a Bibliography -- Providing your readers with a list of all the works you used in [putting together your project/paper.
The two steps work together. If you have a footnote or in-text citation to a particular source -- it should appear in your bibliography (and vice-versa).
Citation Styles
You should always check with your teacher to see if s/he has a preferred style for your paper/project.
MLA
This is a good option if you are unsure which one to use or your teacher did not specify. It is typically associated with English.
Chicago/Turabian
The style most associated with history and the humanities.
