When you quote or paraphrase the idea of another person in your research paper or speech, you must provide a proper citation for the source in a bibliography or list of references. This gives credit to the author and enables the reader to locate the resource you cited. 

Providing references for sources you used also lends credibility to your work, especially if you use authoritative sources. 

If you use other people's ideas and do not give them credit by providing proper references to their work, you are committing plagiarism. Plagiarism is an honor code violation as well as a federal crime. 

Content courtesy of NSU Libraries.

You can easily compile and format your citations using RefWorks.

In your research, you will need to understand how to interpret the citations you find in indexes and bibliographies, as well as how to cite sources in your own bibliographies.

Interpreting Citations

A citation is a reference to a source of information. It should include enough identifying information, including such information as the author, title, and source, so that a reader can locate a copy of the item. Citations may reference any type of information including: 

Book Citation

 

HINT: When trying to determine whether the library owns a book, check TIGER by searching for the author or title. 

Magazine Article Citation

HINT: When trying to determine whether the library owns a magazine, check Find Journals by searching for the title of the magazine rather than using the title of the article. 

Journal Article Citation

HINT: When trying to determine whether the library owns a journal, check TIGER by searching for the title of the journal rather than using the title of the article. 

ERIC ED Document Citation

HINT: For information on locating ERIC Documents (EDs), visit the ERIC website or EBSCO's Education Source database.