WHY CITING MATTERS

(from the Cite This For Me website)

Citing isn’t something you usually think about, but it’s important nonetheless. Without even realizing it, you do it already in your everyday life in little ways. Have you ever said, “I heard on XYZ News that . . . ,“ or “I read in XYZ that those two celebrities are dating,” or even “Mom said that you can’t do that.” By saying where you got your information, you are casually citing a source.

We do this because it gives credibility to what we say, but also because it credits the originator of the information and allows others to follow up if they need more information. Formal citing done for papers and projects takes this a step further. In addition to the reasons mentioned above, citing sources in academia provides evidence of your research process and helps you avoid plagiarism.

Plagiarism is a word you never want to hear describing your work. You’ve probably seen headlines in the news and heard stories in school about the negative consequences of plagiarism. It’s not good but it is preventable. By visiting Cite This For Me to create citations, you’re taking steps to help avoid this.

Here's a great, free way to generate perfect citations for your papers. This will help you cite books, journals and websites.

Cite This For Me

If you're wondering why citation is important, take a look at this fun, short video.

Here's a good summary of MLA format (used by English and some other departments).

And here's a good summary of APA format (used by some social science departments).