Now that I found information,
what do I do?

What does it mean to "cite" a source?

It means that you show, within the body of your text, that you took the words or ideas from another place. Failure to acknowledge these sources can be considered plagiarism.
 

How do I cite?

Your professors may prefer you to use a particular citation style. Common style guides such as APA (scientific), MLA (humanities), Turabian, and more are linked from the library's Style Guides for Writing page.

Whatever style you use, be sure to pay attention to the details - form and punctuation count.
 

What must be cited?

Although different disciplines have different conventions for what should be cited, you should always cite

a) verbatim quotations from other works

example - direct quote, including page number, in APA style

"Research indicates that exposure to thin ideal images in women's magazines is associated with heightened concerns for body shape and size in a number of young women" (Thomsen, 2002, p. 988).

b) sources you paraphrase or summarize, or from which you obtained ideas

example

Studies show that reading women's magazines is correlated with concerns about thinness (Thomsen, 2002).

c) ideas or facts which are not common knowledge

example

Approximately 10% of patients with eating disorders are men (Andersen and Holman, 1997).

The best policy is: when in doubt as to whether something is common knowledge or not, cite your source.
 

What does not need to be cited?

You don't need to cite anything that is common knowledge.

example

Richard Nixon was the first American President to resign from office.

But again, if you're not sure, provide a citation.
 

References, or List of Works Cited

You must also include a complete list of sources at the end of the paper. This shows the reader how you have done your research, and allows him to locate the materials in case he wants to read more about the subject. For the above citations, in APA format:

Andersen A.E., & Holman J.E. (1997). Males with eating disorders: challenges for treatment and research. Psychopharmacology Bulletin 33(3), 391-397.

Thomsen, S.R. (2002). Health and beauty magazine reading and body shape concerns among a group of college women. Journalism And Mass Communication Quarterly 79(4), 988-1007. Retrieved October 23, 2003, from ProQuest database.

 

More information on citing - Dartmouth's Sources guide is a good source for additional guidance and examples

If you have questions about plagiarism or citing sources, ask a librarian.

Prepared for the Jean and Alexander Heard Library, Vanderbilt University

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to MIT Libraries for granting permission to modify and use their "Information Navigator" tutorial.