First Generation Student LibGuide: Citing Sources

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• A Note about Plagiarism (Hint: It's a Big Deal!)
  A Note about Plagiarism (Hint: It's a Big Deal!)
  

  Plagiarism is a serious academic offense. Every year, thousands of students are expelled from college for plagiarizing; in 2002, forty-eight University of Virginia students left school as a result of plagiarism (Hansen 775). Here at Ferrum, penalties for plagiarism are determined by the Honor Board ("2012-2013 Student Handbook"). The good news is that plagiarism can be pretty easily avoided if you know how to cite things properly.

  The Student Handbook provides information about what is considered plagiarism by our faculty and how to avoid it. Put simply:

  Proper scholarly procedures require that all quoted material be identified by quotation marks or indentation on the page, and the source of information and ideas, if from another, must be identified and be attributed to that source ("Avoiding Plagiarism").

  So what makes a thought original versus "from another" source? That question has been a point of controversy for a very long time, which is why it's recommended that you always cite something if you can. Incorporate one quotable thought into your work that demonstrates each point. Using the citation websites below or the citations provided by the databases will help you cite sources and write better papers. If you ever have more questions about whether or not something is plagiarism in your own work, please contact me, or check out one of these resources:

  • Plagiarism.org - includes a plagiarism checker that looks at your paper for places that need to be cited
  • "Avoiding Plagiarism When Building Your Own Website" - because plagiarism has major financial and reputation consequences in our professional lives too
  • Plagiarism Today - dedicated to helping webmasters and copyright holders protect their intellectual property, as well drawing attention to major stories of copyright violation

  Please use this page to your advantage, particularly the citation guidelines, and remember that I am here to help/proofread.

  Works Cited

  "2012-2103 Student Handbook." Links & Information for Current Students. Ferrum College, 2012. Web. 12 Jan. 2013.

  "Avoiding Plagiarism." Duke Libraries: Research and Reference. Duke University Libraries, n.d. Web 12 Jan. 2013.

  Hansen, Brian. "Combating plagiarism." The CQ Researcher 13.32 (2003): 775-792.
• APA Citation Resources
  APA Citation Resources
  

  APA at the OWL at Purdue - a major authority in determining APA style

  The Basics of APA Style - from the organization that's responsible for it, the American Psychological Assocation

  EasyBib - try the "Bibliography" tab for a citation generator and the "Citation Guide" tab for information about APA, MLA, and Chicago guidelines, as well as plagiarism resources

  APA Citation Management at Cornell University Library - find easy-to-read charts about APA, MLA, and Chicago style

  APA References Page Models (Long Island University) - A very useful reference with helpful color-coding for parts of the bibliographic entry

  Or you can ask APA yourself via their Twitter feed! (They're pretty good about answering.)

  Tweets by @APA_Style
• MLA Citation Resources
  MLA Citation Resources
  

  MLA at the OWL at Purdue - a major authority in navigating MLA style

  Research and Documentation Online (Bedford St. Martins) - a great place for finding information about the major MLA citation needs, as well sample research papers for comparison

  EasyBib - try the "Bibliography" tab for a citation generator and the "Citation Guide" tab for information about APA, MLA, and Chicago guidelines, as well as plagiarism resources

  MLA Page Format - from California State University, Sacramento, this visual guide can help you format your paper's margin and layout using MLA style

  MLA Works Cited page models (Long Island University)- A very useful reference with helpful color-coding for parts of the bibliographic entry

  Modern Language Association- Official website of the MLA and its citation governing bodies

• Associated Press (AP) Style for Journalists
  Associated Press (AP) Style for Journalists
  

  For those of you who may become future journalists, you have extra responsibility to be familiar with citation styles. In addition to being able to find credible information by correctly analyzing MLA, APA, and Chicago reference lists, you'll also frequently need to use the special Associated Press citation style. This is the style we see most frequently under images in news stories:

  Jim McCluskey/kiltedlibrarian/flickr.com

  Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL) provides some information about the unique guidelines of AP style, which is most frequently used in news writing. These guidelines reflect the professional standard used in the journalism field.

RefWorks is the web-based bibliographic management software. Use RefWorks to collect references and insert citations into either MS Word or Google Docs. Create an account from on-campus using your Ferrum email address.