When to Cite Sources

Revised by Anita Lindsay
2005

Part of the process of writing a research paper involves the use of material gathered from other sources, such as books, journal articles, or Internet sites. If you use any of the material from these sources, either by direct quotation or by paraphrasing [restating another's idea or opinion], you will need to acknowledge the original work with a proper citation. To fail to do this is plagiarism. "Plagiarism consists of passing off the ideas, opinions, conclusions, facts, words-in short, the intellectual work-of another as your own" (Leggett 486).

You must document:

1. Direct quotations (these must be in quotation marks)
2. Ideas, opinions, insights, or conclusions of another even if you paraphrase that person's wording
3. Information that is not well known or is open to dispute
4. Tables, graphs, charts, or statistics taken from another source.

You do not need to document:

1. Common knowledge
2. Your own original ideas, opinions, insights, or conclusions.

Following the above guidelines, a paper on John F. Kennedy would not need to document that he was elected President in 1960; however, a historian's analysis of his performance as President would need to be cited.

Internet

Material taken from an Internet site should be treated as intellectual property and properly cited. The format in which words or ideas come to you (electronic, paper, verbal) is not as important as acknowledging that the words or ideas are not originally yours.

Citation Styles

There are three styles of citation commonly used at USF:

1. APA [American Psychological Association] is most often used in business, education, psychology, and social sciences.
2. MLA [Modern Language Association] is usually used in the humanities and fine arts.
3. Turabian [a shortened version of the Chicago Manual of Style ] is not as commonly used; however, some history and other social sciences professors may require it.

Handout sheets reflecting the types of materials most commonly cited are available on a revolving rack between the Reference and the Circulation Desks at Poynter Library. Each of the three styles has two separate handouts: one for print sources and one for electronic. Copies of the style manuals are available at the Reference Desk.

Plagiarism and USF

Plagiarism is specifically listed as one of the forms of academic dishonesty that will not be tolerated at USF (Student Handbook 13).

Bibliography

"Avoiding Plagiarism." Purdue University Online Writing Lab . Jan. 2000. 5 pages. Purdue U. 14 Aug. 2000 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_plagiar.html>.

Axelrod, Rise B., and Charles R. Cooper. St. Martin's Guide to Writing . 2 nd ed. New York : St. Martin 's, 1988.

Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. Holt Handbook . 4 th ed. Orlando : Harcourt, Brace, 1995.

Leggett, Glenn, C. David Mead, and Melinda G. Kramer. Prentice Hall Handbook for Writers . 11 th ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1991.

Levin, Gerald. Macmillan College Handbook . New York : Macmillan, 1987.

Lunsford, Andrea, and Robert Connors. St. Martin's Handbook . New York : St. Martin 's, 1989.

"Quoting and Paraphrasing: What Must Be Documented?" University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center . 1 Nov. 1997 . 3 pages. Wisconsin U. 14 Aug. 2000 <http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/QuoWhatDocumented.html>.

"Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing." Purdue University Online Writing Lab . Jan. 2000. 4 pages. Purdue U. 14 Aug. 2000 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_quotprsum.html>.

Student Handbook 2000-01 . St. Petersburg : U. of South Florida , 2000.

"When to Cite Sources." Writing Center . 27 Feb. 1998 . 3 pages. Princeton U. 14 Aug. 2000 <http://webware.princeton.edu/Writing/whn_toci.htm>.

Selected Sources

Academic Dishonesty.
NetLibrary (e-book, USF Libraries Online Catalog)

Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual: Including Guidelines on Photo Captions, Filing the Wire,
Proofreaders' Marks, Copyright
REF PN4783 .A83 1998

Copyright Book: A Practical Guide
REF KF2994 .S75 1999

Copyright Permission and Libel Handbook: A Step-by-step Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers
REF KF2994 .J37 1998

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
REF LB2369 .G53 2003

Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Searching on the Internet
REF T210 .S53 2000

Plagiarism Handbook: Strategies for Preventing, Detecting, and Dealing with Plagiarism
REF PN167 .H37 2001

Song Sheets to Software: a Guide to Print Music, Software, and Web Sites for Musicians.
REF ML74.7 .A94 2001

Student Cheating and Plagiarism in the Internet Era: A Wake-up Call
REF LB3609 .L28 2000

Using Government Information Sources: Electronic and Print
REF J83 S43 2001