Citing Research Guide

• A citation is the basic information required to identify and locate a specific source (e.g. book, book chapter, article, website, video, etc)

• Different academic disciplines have specific guidelines for organizing material and citing sources. These rules are published as style manuals.    

Why do we cite our sources? 

• Accurate and complete citations help avoid plagiarism.
• Citing your sources properly gives credit to the original author.
• Citations allow others find the sources you used in your research. Your credibility is established by using academic sources.

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is "presenting within one’s own work the ideas, representations, or words of another person or artificial intelligence, without customary and proper acknowledgement of that authorship." (3.1.3 TCC Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities)

To avoid plagiarism make sure to correctly paraphrase (put into your own words) and include citations for information that was not your original thought. For more information, please explore the links below or reach out to a librarian using Ask  A Librarian!

What is Plagiarism? Information for TCC Students (6:46)

When using a citation builder, please always double check your sources with a reliable sample document to ensure your citations are correctly formatted.  

Popular Web Resources

• Citation Tutorials (UNC Libraries)
• Cite Source (Trinity College Library)
• Dartmouth Institute for Writing & Rhetoric
• OWL @ Purdue University