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Evaluating information is only the first step -- once you find credible information, you need to incorporate the information into your work in a way that acknowledges the original author. Imagine research as a conversation -- scholars are trading ideas back and forth and building on the findings of earlier work. Citing your sources is an important part of contributing to this conversation. It allows readers to understand how your work fits into the overall conversation.

Citing your sources is:

•     the smart thing to do -- readers will consider your work more credible if they know where your information comes from.
•     the honest thing to do -- it prevents plagiarism by giving credit to the original author of an idea.

To avoid plagiarism, NAU's e-Learning Center advises you to cite sources when:

• You directly quote a source
• You paraphrase a source
• You summarize someone else's ideas in your own words
• You draw on facts, information, data or media from someone else
• You want to add supplemental information not included in your paper, such as footnotes or endnotes

Note: You do not need to cite generally accepted knowledge. For more information, see Not-So-Common Knowledge.

(the text above is a direct quote from the e-Learning Center's Academic Integrity @ NAU tutorial. The e-Learning Center was paraphrasing Princeton University's guidelines. In this case, we credit both sources to show the progression of the ideas.

Information about a few commonly used style guides:

• American Psychological Association (APA)
  Cline Library has print copies of the APA style manual available for checkout.
• Modern Language Association (MLA)
  Cline Library has a print copy of the MLA manual available for checkout.

Find more citation guides and examples of properly formatted citations at these websites:

• Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)
• Citing Information (UNC Libraries)
• The Writer's Handbook (UW Madison Writing Center)