There are a number of styles you can use to cite your work, ask your instructor which they prefer, or what is best for your field.
Here are some of the most common ones. Diana Hacker’s A Pocket Style Manual features three popular formats: MLA, APA, and Chicago. Of the three listed, APA is the style I recommend for science research papers.
For special instructions on how to cite Internet sources, see Hacker’s A Pocket Style Manual, Fourth Edition, pages 174-175. You can, of course, always consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition (APA Manual). We have APA Manuals at the Reference Desk. For Internet sources, see pages 268-281. The Reference Staff have created handouts on two of three popular styles, Chicago is currently under revision and is not available.
Plagiarism is the act of stealing or using or passing off as someone elses words, phrases, ideas, writings, or creative work as your own, whether you mean to or not. most professionals would never do this intentionally, but it can happen (and does) unknowingly.
The best way to avoid it is to learn to cite your work effectively!
According to Diana Hacker, editor of The Bedford Handbook, reminds her readers that "[t]hree different acts are considered plagiarism: (1) failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas, (2) failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, and (3) failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words" (570).
Basically you have to give authors credit for the work they did. You can avoid plagiarism by always citing your sources, including any and all resources and information found on the Web, via the Internet, or other electronic sources. Citing your sources accomplishes a number of things.
1. It gives the creator of work credit where credit is due.
2. It lets your readers know where you got your information, so they can tell if your sources are reliable.
3. It gives readers ionformation about the resource so they can fint it if they want more information.
1. See if the Database will do it for you (check the article record to see if the database you are in will export the citation).
2. Here are links to some of the most common style guides.
APA Style (American Psychological Association)
The American Psychological Association (APA) style is a general and widely used style in the social sciences, education, and other fields. T
Chicago Style (University of Chicago Press)
Chicago Manual of Style is intended to help authors prepare books for publication, and is widely used (or adapted) by fields in the humanities and social sciences..
MLA (Modern Language Association)
MLA Style, developed by the Modern Language Association, is a very popular citation style used throughout the humanities.
3. Can't export it or figure out how to cite it? Try a citation builder. There are many of these tools out there and will give you a way to create citations in many styles for many types of items.
Here's one citation builder from NCSU that's pretty good.