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Self Quiz

Citing Your Sources

There are two major reasons to cite your sources when doing a research project:

  1. To give credit for words or ideas that belong to another author. Failure to do this is called plagiarism and can result in a failing grade and other consequences.
  2. To let your readers know where they can go to find out more about your topic

When you write a research paper, you will cite the sources you used in two places:
  • Within the text of the paper
  • At the end in the "sources cited" page.

There are a number of different citation styles researchers can use. Your professor will usually indicate which style s/he prefers. The three most common styles are Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA) and the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS). You will find guides to all three styles in the library.

Follow the links below to get details on how to use the styles to cite different kinds of sources:


For more specific examples, follow these links:


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