Citing Your Sources

Image from: Calonia J.(n.d.). How to Avoid Plagiarism. Grammarly.

In academic writing, we build on the work and ideas of others. We cite the work that came before us to help anyone reading our work understand how we formed our conclusions or where we found that information. Citing is about giving credit where credit is due, and it's how we develop arguments and viewpoints in academic writing.
When should you cite? Simply stated: if it isn’t your own idea, conclusion, research, art, or words, the source must be cited. The exception is if the information is considered common knowledge. 

Common Knowledge

One of the more challenging aspects is determining what is common knowledge, and each discipline has developed an accepted definition of what is considered 'common knowledge' for that area. 

A question you can ask yourself when thinking about if something is 'common knowledge' according to Dr. Hanson (2011, in the video below) is: did you FIND this information or did you THINK it up?

A generally accepted definition is if the information could be easily found in 4 or more sources, it could be considered common knowledge. 

This being said: if you are ever in doubt - cite it. 

Examples of information that does not require citation:

• Canada is a country 
• World War Two ended in 1945
• The Earth is round

Examples of information that should be cited:

• A word-for-word quote (or direct quote)
• Paraphrase of someone else’s words or ideas (their idea using your words)
• A summary of someone else's idea(s)
• Research results
• Charts, images, graphs, cartoons, photographs, statistics

Content adapted from: Menlo School Library (n.d.)