In-Text Citations and Full Citations

To avoid plagiarism, it's necessary to follow citations rules so that you are including in-text citations at the end of every sentence where you quoted or paraphrased a source and so that you are including a complete and accurate Works Cited or References page at the end of your paper.

This workshop does not cover citations rules, so we recommend that you also do the MLA, APA or Chicago workshop, depending on the citation style that your professor asks you to use.

Quoting versus Paraphrasing

There are two ways to incorporate ideas from your sources into your paper. You can quote them directly by using their own words and putting quotation marks around their exact words and phrases. Or, the more common way, is to explain their idea in your own words, which is called paraphrasing.

Here is an example of the same source being quoted or paraphrased and then cited in-text and in the Works Cited.

Here are two sentences from a research source that a student might want to quote or paraphrase. Below it, you will see examples of how a quote and a paraphrase could look:

The National Park Service’s ostensible goal was to enable people to see and experience these extraordinarily scenic places, which in turn would help secure public support for the new park system and thus needed congressional funding. The net result was to transform the national parks from a wilderness setting into a tourist destination, such that visitation today exceeds 320 million people annually and results in overcrowding in several parks at popular times..

Example of a student quoting words and phrases from this source:

One of the problems for national parks is “overcrowding in several parks at popular times” (Keiter 129). Attracting people to the national parks has actually always been one of the National Park Service’s goals because people who “see and experience these extraordinary scenic places” are more likely to “support the new park system” and the funding it needed (Keiter 129). But some of the parks are so popular now that it is causing damage.

Example of a student paraphrasing this source in their own words:

The National Park Service (NPS) has to balance the need to make the parks popular and the need to protect the environments at the parks. Crowded parks full of tourists can cause damage and also make the parks less enjoyable. But from the beginning, the NPS has worked to make the parks more accessible to people by building roads and letting hotels be built on or near the parks (Keiter 129). The reason is that getting people to the parks where they can see the beauty makes them more likely to support the funding that the parks need from Congress (Keiter 129). But now the high number of tourists is making the parks hard to manage and it likely costs even more to maintain them and repair the damage.

Note: To do paraphrasing correctly, you have to change both the structure of the information you are paraphrasing and the words you are paraphrasing.

Work Cited

Keiter, Robert B. “National Parks: Preserving America’s Natural and Cultural Heritage.” The Environmental Politics and Policy of Western Public Lands, edited by Erika Allen Wolters and Bent S. Steel, E-book, Oregon State University, 126-145. open.oregonstate.education/enviromentalpolitics. Accessed 11 Dec. 2021.

Rarely, You Don't Need to Cite. Why?

Knowing when to cite isn’t simple. The goal of this lesson is to review when a phrase, idea, or another piece of information needs a citation in order to AVOID PLAGIARISM. So, is it necessary to cite every fact presented in a paper? Probably not. Watch this video to learn more about common knowledge.

WHEN TO CITE? LET’S REVIEW

Always cite when you ...

- - directly quote
  - paraphrase or summarize someone else’s words
  - use an idea that is not your own
  - refer to someone else' work

It's not necessary to cite when it's ...

- - common knowledge
  - common expressions
  - your own ideas & words

Still unsure? It's always safest to go ahead and cite it!

COMMON KNOWLEDGE EXAMPLE

On television and on the Internet, stories are shared about the impact of melting ice caps on polar bears. But what does melting ice caps really mean for polar bears? According to Dybas, two-thirds of the current polar bear population could disappear by 2050 if ice caps continue to melt (2012).

The first sentence in the paragraph above is common knowledge. No citation is needed. The third and final sentence is NOT common knowledge and requires a citation.

Original source citation

Dybas, Cheryl Lyn. "Polar Bears Are In Trouble--And Ice Melt's Not The Half Of It." Bioscience, vol. 62, no. 12 pp. 1014-1024. 2012. MAS Ultra - School Edition.

Common Knowledge from The Online Library Learning Center - A project of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

You don't have to cite some things because they're common knowledge and are not considered the work of any particular person.

Examples of common knowledge are:

There are four seasons in the year.
There 365 days in a year.
The U.S. entered World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
The oceans are hotter now than they were 100 years ago.

How can you tell if something is common knowledge?

Common knowledge is information that the majority of people either know or can find in a number of sources. Common knowledge is factual information that is beyond dispute.

If you're not sure whether something is common knowledge or not, go ahead and provide a reference for it.

Still not sure? When in doubt, cite it! Common knowledge includes things like the sky is blue! This is a tough concept for some, so cite when in doubt.