Citations & Avoiding Plagiarism

1st: Choose a citation style.

ex. MLA, APA or Chicago

2nd: Identify what type of resource you are citing.

ex. book, magazine, newspaper, interview, online video, email, blog, etc. 
TIP If you are not sure what type of resource you are using Google the title or ask the librarian.

3rd: How did you access the resource?

• free web  (ex. you found the resource using Google/Bing etc)
• library database  (ex. you logged in with a username/password)
• in print, real life (ex. you held the item in your hand / saw in real life)
   

4th: Find the appropriate formula using the criteria above.

ex. MLA - Journal Article in a Library Database
ex. APA - Book in Print
ex. Chicago - Image on a Website

5th: Creating the citation.

TIPCitation generators are only as good as you are. 

• Use the correct template for your source and access point. (ex. article on a website vs. news article from a database)
• Input all the necessary components.
• Doublecheck that the generated citation has the key components (​ex. author listed? date listed? correct titles?)

MyBib.com: A Free Citation Generator

MyBib: How to Add Library Database Citations

6th: Formatting the Works Cited Page

The Works Cited page is a list of the sources you referred to in your paper.

• It is a separate page at the end of your paper/project.
   
• Your last name and the page number go in the upper right corner of the page.
   
• Center Works Cited 1” from the top of the page.
   
• Double-space within and between entries. No extra spaces between entries.
   
• The first line of each entry begins on the left margin. Additional lines are indented ½ inch. This is called a “hanging indent.”​
  
  TIP Go to YouTube and search "hanging indent" and your word processing software (Word, GoogleDoc, Pages...) for how to create indent the second lines of your citation entry.
   
• List entries in alphabetical order by the first work of the entry ignoring A, An or The.