Chapter 7: Citing Sources
Why Cite?
You might be coming to this chapter thinking: is citation just a way for composition teachers to deduct marks and torture their students? Or maybe you enjoy incorporating citations into your writing—a methodical and satisfying task.
There are many reasons why we use citations in scholarly writing:
- To give credit to those who have come before you and/or have influenced your work
- So your reader can tell the difference between your contributions and others’ contributions to your discipline
- To build your credibility
- To increase transparency
- To avoid intentional or unintentional plagiarism
It is important to consider the diversity in perspectives represented in our writing. The video Citing MMU Scholars created by Utah State University Library discusses Multiple Marginalized and Underrepresented (MMU) scholars and explains the historical and systematic prejudices within research and citations.
Tungohan, E. [@tungohan]. (2021, March 15). When writing, I’ve begun to see my citations as love letters to fellow thinkers who came before me & who write alongside me. [Tweet]. https://twitter.com/tungohan/status/1371595462977978370
Utah State University Libraries. [USU Libraries]. (2021, March 8). Citing MMU Scholars. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF8S4Qr_-FM&t=151s
Media Attributions
- Citations as Love Letters © Dr. Ethel Tungohan adapted by Lindsay Cuff is licensed under a All Rights Reserved license
If you use someone else’s work without clearly acknowledging the source—this is plagiarism. This includes paraphrasing or directly quoting any work, published or unpublished, that another person wrote without clearly acknowledging that person as the source. If you allow someone else to do your work for you and claim that work as your own, you will have committed collusion, which is a form of plagiarism.
