CITING SOURCES
When you quote or paraphrase the idea
of another person in your research paper or speech,
you must provide a proper citation for the source in
a bibliography or list of references to:
- Give credit to the author or creator;
- Enable a reader to locate the source
you cited.
Providing references for sources you used
also lends credibility to your work, especially if you
use authoritative sources. Be sure to provide full citations
to all types of sources you use, including:
- Books;
- Government documents;
- Internet sources;
- Interviews;
- Magazine or journal articles;
- Plagiarism media (videotapes, audiotapes,
pictures and images);
- Software.
For examples of citations for the above
resources, visit the Interpreting
Citations page.
If you use the ideas of others and do
not give them credit by providing proper references
to their work, you are committing plagiarism. Plagiarism
is stealing someone else's ideas and presenting them
as your own. Not only is plagiarism an honor code violation
at Riverside Community College, punishable by temporary
or permanent suspension from the college, it is also
a federal crime.
For information on the growing problem
of plagiarism with statistics and background information
visit Plagiarism.org.
STYLE MANUALS
When citing sources, be sure to use a
conventional bibliographic style. Most disciplines
have a standard style that writers are expected to
use. Each style will specify a uniform way of citing
sources that will:
- Give an orderly appearance to your
bibliography;
- Provide all the essential elements
of information that a reader will need to locate
the source.
A citation must include:
| For books and nonprint
materials: |
For periodical articles: |
- author
- title
- place of publication
- publisher
- date
|
- author
- title
- periodical title
- volume number or date
of publication
- page numbers
|
Your professor may require you to use
a particular bibliographic style. If you are unsure,
ask your professor. Below you will find three commonly
used bibliographic style manuals that show how to cite
a variety of sources, including documents from the
Internet:
APA STYLE
APA is the preferred citation style in
the field of psychology and in most social science
disciplines.
Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association. Washington, DC:
APA, 1994.(Ref BF76.7 .P83 1994) <available
at all 3 campus libraries>
This book presents APA style requirements
and provides examples for all types of information
sources.
Try the University
of Southern Mississippi's Quick Reference Guide to
the 5th Edition of the APA Style Guide. Or try NoodleTools -
A suite of interactive tools designed to aid students
and professionals with their online research. Use NoodleBib to
generate and edit MLA and APA-style lists. Get expert
tips on how to cite sources and find information
on the web with NoodleBoard.
CHICAGO STYLE
The Chicago citation style (also called
Turabian style) is used primarily in the fields of
history and the natural sciences.
The Chicago Manual of Style.
Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1993. (Ref
Z253 .U69 1993.) <Available at all 3 campus libraries>
This book is a comprehensive guide to
preparing manuscripts for publishing.
A Manual for Writers of Term Papers,
Theses, and Dissertations. By Kate Turabian.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Ref LB2369
T8) <Available at all 3 campus libraries>
Guide to writing papers in the Turabian
variation of the Chicago style.
MLA STYLE
MLA style is most commonly used in the
humanities, especially the fields of literature and
languages, although other disciplines also utilize
this format.
The MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers. New York : Modern Language
Association of America. (Ref LB2369 G53) <Available
at all 3 campus libraries>
The MLA style set forth in this book
is used by writers in the humanities.
See also the LAMP section Citing Electronic Sources.
Additional bibliographic style manuals
may be found in the Reference collection.
OBSERVING
FAIR USE
The Copyright Law of the United States
provides legal protection for intellectual property.
In your search for information, you should assume that
all materials you find are copyrighted, unless the
document specifies that it is public domain, which
means that it can be used freely by anyone. An information
source does not have to be registered with the Copyright
Office to be covered by copyright. It is copyrighted
as soon as it is created.
The doctrine of "Fair use" allows
copyrighted works to be used for purposes such as criticism,
news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.
Fair use generally applies to nonprofit, educational
purposes that do not affect the potential market for
or value of the copyrighted work. Section
107 of the Copyright Law describes factors to consider
in deciding when fair use applies. The issues related
to copyright of computer software, digitized images,
and other products and sources are becoming more and
more complicated. Some have not yet been adequately
interpreted by the courts.
Remember that all information sources
and technology have been created by someone. Depending
on how you use their property, you might have to ask
those authors, developers, publishers, etc for permission.
To be safe, do not copy anything unless you have explicit
permission or a clear statement that the item is in
the public domain. Whether an information source is
copyrighted or in the public domain, you should cite
it if you quote or paraphrase it in your paper or speech.
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
The United States Copyright
Office of the Library of Congress
The web site for the United States Copyright
Office of the Library of Congress provides online access
to all of the copyright key publications, including
informational circulars, application forms for copyright
registration, news of what the Office is doing, including
Congressional testimony and press releases, our latest
regulations, a link to our online copyright records
cataloged since 1978, and links to the copyright law
and to the web sites of other copyright-related organizations.
Fair
Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia
These Guidelines for Educational Multimedia
provide guidance on the application of the fair use
exemption of the U.S. Copyright Act by educators, scholars
and students in creating multimedia projects that include
portions of copyrighted works, without having to seek
the permission of copyright owners. These guidelines
do not represent a legal document, nor or they legally
binding.
Fair
Use of Copyrighted Material by Georgia Harper,
J.D.
Georgia Harper is considered the foremost
expert on copyright among the members of the National
Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA).
She is manager of the intellectual property section
in the General Counsel's office for the University
of Texas System, and a member of the Association of
American Universities Copyright Advisory Board. This
site includes (for example):
Crash
Course in Copyright
University of Texas's Copyright Crash
Course includes presentations for administrators, faculty,
students, libraries, and university attorneys.
USEFUL
INTERNET SITE
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