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Biology

Cite Your Sources

How do I cite properly?Click quotation mark to cite an item in Summon

Summon has a built-in citation generator, but first you'll need to determine which citation style you should use. Most citation styles have a style guide, which includes a set of rules on how to format citations. Preferred styles vary from discipline to discipline. If you are unsure which citation style to use, check with your instructor.

 

Some common citation styles include:

What is a citation?

CiteWhen you cite a source, you are stating that you took the words, ideas, images, or other information from another place. A citation is a short way to identify where the information was found. Most citations consist of the same elements, which are all helpful for readers who want to identify and locate the source of your information. Some of those elements include:

  • Author name(s)
  • Date of publication
  • Title of the publication 
  • Title and/or location of the source
  • Volume and issue numbers (for articles)

What needs to be cited?

You must cite:

  • When you quote other people's work
  • When you discuss, summarize, or paraphrase other people's work
  • Data, graphs, chats, and tables
  • Photographs, illustrations, videos, and other media sources

When in doubt, be safe and cite your source!

Why is citing sources important?

  • To give credit and to be respectful of the ideas and research of others
  • To show the work that you have done in researching the topic and demonstrate that you understand it
  • To avoid plagiarism by differentiating between your own ideas and the work of others
  • To give readers the information they need to find the sources you used in your research

Organize Citations with RefWorks

What is RefWorks?

RefWorks is an easy-to-use tool for creating reference lists. It's free to you as a student!

What can RefWorks do for you?Create a bibliography in RefWorks

  •  Import and store sources
    • Import full-text sources and save them to your RefWorks account
  • Manage research articles and other sources
    • Organize your articles into projects or within folders
    • Assign tags for easier searching
    • Write notes on articles 
  • Share and collaborate
    • Create a shared folder of sources for group projects or when you work with advisors
  • Write and cite
    • Generate reference lists quickly in over 4,000 styles including APA, MLA, and Chicago
    • Format reference and in-text citations