Citing Sources: Home

You must cite:

• Facts, figures, ideas, or other information that is not common knowledge
• Ideas, words, theories, or exact language that another person used in other publications
• Publications that must be cited include:  books, book chapters, articles, web pages, theses, etc.
• Another person's exact words should be quoted and cited to show proper credit 

When in doubt, be safe and cite your source!

Source: MIT Citing Sources guide

A citation is used to document the use of a particular piece of information, such as a book, article, website, image, or video. 

The purpose of documentation is to:

• Allow your reader (teacher) find the original source of information
• Give credit to the ideas and thoughts of other researchers
• Avoid plagiarism by quoting words and ideas used by others
• Provide evidence of your research

There are two steps to citing: 

• A full citation is included in the bibliography (also known as the Reference page or Works Cited page).
• A shortened citation (known as an in-text citation) is included in the body of your text. 

At Burroughs, the Chicago citation style is most commonly used. However, there are many citation styles and you should always check with your teacher to ensure you are using the appropriate style for your project and/or paper. 

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