ENG 12 (Prof. Hermina Marcellin, Fall 2024)

Citing your sources is a very important part of the research process. Why?

• Citations help you avoid plagiarism. As you may know, Kingsborough stands strongly against plagiarism, or using the work of others as your own. (See the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity here.) Citing direct or indirect quotations can prevent you from inadvertently claiming another writer's work as your own. 
• Citations help you make your case. In addition to avoiding plagiarism, citing sources will make your work much stronger. Each citation stands as a piece of evidence: a citation adds to your paper by saying to the reader: "What she is arguing is backed up by the scholars in the field."
• Citations show the person who is reading how to get further information. Citations can be a great way of pointing your reader to more interesting sources on your topic. 
• Citations strike up a conversation with your source. In scholarly writing, citations are considered a form of communication between one author and another. By citing an author's work, you not only support your own argument, but you are also announcing that the sources you cited are good works of research or scholarship. It's a conversation, even though they may not know about it. 

Citation formats: 

• MLA Format (from the Modern Language Association) is the most common citation style used in undergraduate papers. You can find more information about MLA style in their handbook (available through the library), the Purdue OWL, or on MLA Style Center.  

Below are some helpful links from Purdue Owl on creating an Annotated Bibliography:

• Definition of an annotated bibliography
• Samples of annotated bibliographies (1st sample is in MLA style)

Here's a link to an example of a Works Cited page in MLA style, courtesy of OWL Purdue Writing Lab.

• Create a new document and title it "Works Cited"
• Copy your citation from the database. (Highlight the text with your cursor and then hit "Ctrl" and "C" if you're using a PC; hit "Command" and "C" if you're using a Mac.)
• Paste the citation in your Google doc ("Ctrl" and "V" if you're using a PC; hit "Command and "V" if you're using a Mac.)
• You may need to change the font color to black and get rid of any highlighting
• If your citation is longer than one line, remember that you'll need to add hanging indentations.
  • Insert your cursor at the start of the second line.
  • Under "Format", click on "Align & Indent".
  • Then, click on "Indentation Options".
  • On the drop-down menu under "Special Indent" select "Hanging" and click "Apply". 
  • Now, the citation should have hanging indentations after the first line