Introduction

Plagiarism Defined

Examples

How to Avoid

In-Text Citations

Common Knowledge

Conclusion

Printable Checklist

How to Avoid Plagiarism

What does it mean to cite your source?

To cite or document a source is to tell the reader whose ideas and words are included in your paper and where these ideas and words were found.

Citing is a 2-step process: The first step is to cite in the body of your paper. The second step is to cite at the end of your paper.

The citation in the body of the paper is called an "in-text citation" OR a "parenthetical citation". The citation at the end of the paper is called an "end-of text citation", a "cited work", or a "reference". A list of "end-of-text citations" is called a "cited works list", a "reference list", or a "bibliography".

This tutorial focuses only in-text citations because it is during this process when you can avoid most plagiarism problems.

June 15th, 2004