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English 12 - Prof. Radtke: Citation

What is citation?

  • Citation is how we give credit to other people's work.
  • This is important when we reference other's work in our own writing.
  • This is important to avoid plagiarism (see the box on plagiarism).
  • Your professor wants you to use MLA style. Make sure to meet this requirement.

How do I find help on citation?

For general help on citation, check out the resources at the Purdue Owl. It has help on many different citation styles.

But you shouldn't need to create your citations yourself! See the box "Where do I get citations for my sources" for a better solution.

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Some old books

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is using other people's work without giving them credit. For example:

  • Using someone's words without putting them in quotation marks.
  • Using someone's idea without giving them credit.
  • Using images, graphics or other visual elements without citing the source.

Plagiarism will get you into trouble! You can avoid this through proper citation.

Where do I get citations for my sources

When you find resources via the library website, there will almost always be an option to get the citation. Usually it is represented with a quote icon. For example, it might look like this:

Click on the icon to see your citation options. You will be able to select MLA style from a list of options.