Home: Citation Tools

Why do I need to include citation information?

• Proper use of information citations is an important part of the scholarly process.  Try to think of scholarship as a conversation; properly used citations allow all participants to follow the conversation by directing the reader to the sources of ideas.
• As scholars, we build on the works of others in our fields, and we must acknowledge those works when we use them, either through direct quotations or paraphrasing of ideas
• Proper citations include both in-text citations and works cited/references pages

When do I need to include an in-text citation?

• When directly quoting from a referenced source (direct quotes must be enclosed in quotation marks)
• When paraphrasing an idea or concept from a referenced source (while paraphrased ideas do not need to be enclosed in quotation marks, they must still be cited)
• Information that would be considered common knowledge (water freezes at 32 degrees, World War II ended in 1945) do not have to be cited.