Cite Your Sources

• Avoid frustration by keeping track as you go along of all the elements necessary for citing sources.
• Note citation information for any and every source you think you may use.
• It would be better to have the information and not need it all of it, than not have the information and need it.
• Keep a record of every source. Try using note cards or a spreadsheet or a bibliographic citation management software.

Below are some of the basic elements you will need for citing sources (of course, each item is unique, so be sure to use the appropriate style guide):

• author
• title (for journals you need both the title of the article and the title of the journal)
• publisher
• date of publication
• page number
• volume and issue number for periodical articles
• place of publication

Check our "Citation Styles & Formats" webpage to find out more about these specific styles.
MLA style - used primarily by humanities disciplines such as English, Foreign Languages, and Art
APA style- used primarily by the social science disciplines such as Psychology, Criminal Justice, and Sociology
CBE style - used primarily by the natural science disciplines such as Biology
Turabian or Chicago style - used primarily by history department

Avoid Plagiarism

• According to Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, plagiarism is the act of stealing or passing off someone else's words, ideas, etc. as your own.
• Not crediting a source used can also be construed as plagiarism. This includes sources from books, movies, the Internet, etc.
• Engaging in plagiarism is a violation of academic integrity and will not be tolerated at Crafton Hills College. The penalties for plagiarism are outlined in the campus catalog.
  
  Honor Copyright Restrictions: It is extremely important, when doing any kind of research, to be aware of the laws/principles governing copyright.
  Copyright laws exist for several reasons, most notably to acknowledge authorship of a work and to facilitate the accessibility to a work.

Not only is it common courtesy to give credit where credit is due, it is the law. According to the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the creator (either an individual or a group) of a work owns the rights to that work. Types of works that can be protected by copyright include:
"literary works; musical works, including lyrics; dramatic works, including music; pantomimes and choreographic works; graphic, pictorial, and sculptural works; sound recordings; and architectural works."

• Once it is in print (or a fixed medium such as a sound recording) it is covered by copyright.
• To reproduce or in any way use the works of others without permission is illegal except when it meets the "fair-use" doctrine of the copyright law. This exception to ownership rights is critical in an educational environment where open exchange of information is vital.
• The "fair-use" [need citation] clause allows use of a copyrighted work for purposes "such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research."
• It is essential to acknowledge and credit whenever you use, refer to, or allude to the work of someone other than yourself.
• Using a style guide, such as MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, will give explicit directions on how to cite sources.
• Our technological environment has created some interesting copyright questions and obstacles. It is important to always look for copyright information or authorship, even on Web pages that might appear to have information “that is free for the taking.”
• Even though determining an author might be difficult, there is always some way to cite a source.

In general, copyrighted material may be used without permission:

• in an academic class, and nowhere else.
• only parts of the work, and not the whole work, are used (for instance, only one picture from a book or part of a poem)
• the source is always cited, even if the work is only used in a presentation.
  the item is used spontaneously (as in a class assignment), and not continuously.
  Remember, simply modifying a work does not protect you from infringing on copyright (and may border on plagiarism).
• When in doubt if something is protected by copyright, it is better to err on the conservative side; that is, it is better to cite something that doesn’t need to be cited than to fail to cite something that should be cited.

Presenting Your Information

Presentation format of your project will most likely be determined by your professor.
Presentation formats range from written papers to multimedia presentations/performances to webpages.

Remember, whatever your presentation format, it is your responsibility to provide all the scholarly elements necessary.

Call for Information or e-mail us:

Renewals and circulation questions: 389-3321
Reference questions: 389-3323 or 389-3322

Sam Job (mornings & afternoons M-F)
Laura Winningham (mornings, afternoons, and Saturday)
Catherine Hendrickson (evenings)