Why Cite?
It is important to cite the sources that are used in your research for the following reasons:
- To give credit- Acknowledging authors' contributions to your academic work is to show respect to the author's painstaking efforts.
- To identify materials- Showing the materials that support your ideas is to give a clear picture of the connections between your idea and the intellectual tradition it originates from.
- To track sources- Giving approaches to your readers to track the sources you have used is for them to examine your work or explore it further.
How & When to Cite?
There are many ways to make citations. Explore them together!
- To quote- Use quotation marks to make direct quotes. When you copy the exact words or a unique phrase, you need to use quotation marks to make direct quotes. Note that when you reprint any diagrams, illustrations, charts, pictures, or other visual materials, or when you reuse or repost any digital media, including images, audio, video, or other media, these situations are also deemed as copying the exact work of others, and thus you also need to quote, although quotation marks are not used.
- To paraphrase -Use your own words to interpret someone's ideas. To interpret someone else’s ideas with your own words is called paraphrasing, which is also a commonly-used method to cite the original ideas.
- To summarize- Summarize someone else's ideas and thoughts. To only pick out the main ideas of the original source is called summarizing, normally used in the situation of a broad overview of the source materials.
