To

Cite
Is
Right!

OR…
Avoiding Plagiarism,
Pleasing Profs, &
Living an Academically Honest Life
What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism is using the words, ideas,
research results, formulae, images,
or data from another person
without giving credit to the originator
of those words, ideas,
research results,
formulae, images
or data
 Many students feel that
by using footnotes, endnotes, or
citations
their papers will not be as good
as papers that make fewer references
to other works.

But this conclusion is just plain

wrong…
In fact, the student who cites sources where appropriate
guarantees a better grade than the student who writes a
paper without adequately giving credit to the source
material!

Paper with citations—no plagiarism

No citations—plagiarized material
Why?!?
By providing citations to
other works, a writer is
showing how he or she is
entering into the
conversation of a given
field, building upon what’s
already been said and
adding his or her own
voice.
When do you need to cite
a source?
Whenever you use the
words (written or spoken)
ideas
formulae
research results
images or
data
of another person--unless that information is common
knowledge
 What is “common
knowledge?”
“Common knowledge” is anything that is considered
known by the vast majority of the population—or found
in generalized encyclopedias and/or dictionaries.
Examples include:

Manila is the capital of the Philippines.

a2 + b2 = c2

In those examples, you would not be expected to

cite the census or Pythagoras.
 Example of when you would be
expected to cite a source:
When you’re including information that isn’t common knowledge, you
would want to cite it:

William Butler Ogden, the first mayor of Chicago, designed the

first swing bridge over the Chicago River (ByCityLight, 2).

The complete reference for this source would then be found at the
end of the paper in the “Works Cited” page:

“Chicago, Illinois.” ByCityLights.com. 31 October 2007

<bycitylights.com/cities/us-il-chicago-history.php>.
It’s fairly obvious that
copying directly from a source
without using quotation marks
and not providing a citation is plagiarism.

What about when we copy from a source and change a

few words (i.e., paraphrase) without indicating its
originator?
This is also plagiarism.
Why is paraphrasing
plagiarism?
If you steal your roommate’s pillow and put it in your pillowcase, it is
still your roommate’s pillow, right?

It’s no different if you

take an idea from
someone else—it’s still
their idea, not yours.
APA (6 TH EDITION)
 IN-TEXT CITATIONS

APA (American Psychological Association) style is

most commonly used to cite sources within the
social sciences.
APA style requires authors to use the past tense or
present perfect tense when using signal phrases to
describe earlier research.
Reyes (1998) found or Reyes (1998) has found...
APA citation basics

author-date method of
in-text citation
APA citation basics

Make reference to the author and year of

publication (not including the page number)
when:
referring to an idea from another work but
NOT directly quoting the material
or making reference to an entire book,
article or other work
Short quotations

author’s surname, year of

publication, and page number for
the reference (preceded by "p.").
a signal phrase that includes the
author's last name followed by the
date of publication in parentheses.
Example (short quotations)
According to Reyes (1998),
“students often had difficulty
using APA style, especially
when it was their first time"
(p. 199).
Short quotations…cont’d

Reyes (1998) found "students often had

difficulty using APA style" (p. 199); what
implications does this have for teachers?

She stated, “students often had difficulty

using APA style" (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but
she did not offer an explanation as to why.
Short quotations…cont’d

If the author is not named in

a signal phrase, place the
author's last name, the year
of publication, and the page
number in parentheses after
the quotation.
Long quotations

Place direct quotations that are 40

words or longer in a free-standing block
of typewritten lines and omit quotation
marks.
Start the quotation on a new line,
indented 1/2 inch from the left margin,
i.e., in the same place you would begin
a new paragraph.
Long quotations…cont’d

Type the entire quotation on the new

margin, and indent the first line of any
subsequent paragraph within the quotation
1/2 inch from the new margin.
Maintain double-spacing throughout. The
parenthetical citation should come after the
closing punctuation mark.
Seidhofer (2011) warns about ESP approaches,
especially in situations where the purposes
conform to native speaker norms. According to
Seidhofer (2011):
Most learners have other and far less specific
and predictable purposes, and it does not seem
reasonable to impose such ESP objectives on
them, especially since they are unlikely to attain
them anyway. What they need is what is actually
referred to as EGP-English for General Purposes-
English that can be adapted to any purpose and
made appropriate to any context.
Summary or paraphrase

make reference to the author and year

of publication
Example:
According to Reyes (1998), APA style is
a difficult citation format for first-time
learners.
 One author
Cite the last name of the author in every in-text
citation:
Examples”
The study demonstrated how "APA style can be
challenging for college students" (Bedford, 2010, p.
8).
> Smith (2009) discovered that APA style is a
challenging citation format for first-time learners (p.
199).
> According to Smith, APA style is a challenging
citation format for first-time learners (2009, p. 199).
 One author (example)
The study demonstrated how "APA style
can be challenging for college students"
(Bedford, 2010, p. 8).
Smith (2009) discovered that APA style is a
challenging citation format for first-time
learners.
According to Smith, “APA style is a
challenging citation format for first-time
learners” (2009, p. 199).
 Two authors

Combine both names, with "&" in

brackets or "and" in the signal
phrase:
 Two authors (examples)
Research conducted by Bedford and Smith (2008)
suggests college students struggle when using APA
style. This difficulty can be attributed to the fact
that many students did not purchase a style
manual or failed to ask their teacher or librarian
for help (p. 199).
Two authors (examples)
Research has suggested that college
students struggle when using APA
style because they do not acquire
the necessary resources or seek
additional support on-campus
(Bedford & Smith, 2008,).
 Three to five authors

List all last names in signal phrase or

brackets for the first in-text citation.
If you cite the source again, use the
first author's last name with "et al."
 Three to five authors
Contrary to popular belief, the evidence showed
that Leif Eriksson was "the first European to set
foot on North American soil, almost 500 years
before Columbus" (Wilson, Kravitz, Thomson, &
Petty, 2011, pp. 94-98).
> Wilson et al. (2011) concluded that Leif
Eriksson was "the first European to set foot on
North American soil, almost 500 years before
Columbus" (pp. 94-98).
 Six or more authors

For all in-text citations, use the first

author's name followed by et al. in the
signal phrase or in brackets:
Six or more authors (examples)
In a randomized control trial conducted
on diabetic patients, Shaughnessy et al.
(2007) found the medication to be
effective in 72% of patients (p. 109).
Multiple studies have demonstrated
that traumatic experiences in early
childhood can increase the risk of
addiction (Okoye et al., 2016, p. 84).
 Group, organization or corporate author

Cite the full name of the group or

organization. If it is lengthy, cite full
name in the first citation and use an
abbreviation for following citations:
Group, organization or
corporate author (example)
The Canadian Medical Association
(CMA) concluded there is no causal link
between vaccinations and the increase
in clinical diagnoses of autism spectrum
disorders. Moreover, the CMA warned
that such assumptions may lead to the
return of childhood illnesses like the
measles (2010).
 No author specified

First, check if there is a group or

organization responsible for the content.
If you cannot locate one, cite the entire
or a shortened version of the title of the
work.
No author specified (examples)
Google was involved in anti-competitive
practices ("Patent Trials," 2010, para. 3).

It was reported that Calgary's office

vacancy rate in the downtown core is
almost 25% ("Calgary Downtown
Vacancy," 2016, para. 1).
 Interview or presentation
(unpublished)
Cite IN-TEXT ONLY, no reference list entry is
needed. Cite in-text as a personal
communication; include initials and last name
of the person(s) and the full date. A reference
list entry is only needed if you read or listened
to the interview/presentation in a print or
electronically published source.
 Interview or presentation
(unpublished) example
A registered nurse explained how "elderly
patients with dementia may wander off the
premises of nursing homes" (J. McGill,
personal communication, October 12, 2015).
 Interview or presentation
(unpublished) example
Plagiarism is a serious violation of
academic honesty policies at Bow
Valley College (L. Peters, personal
communication, September 12,
2016).
 Secondary source ( a source found
inside a source)
If you want to use a source quoted,
paraphrased, or summarized in a source,
cite or refer to original source(s) IN-TEXT
ONLY and cite the actual source you are
using in the in-text citation.
 A source inside a source…cont’d
Johnson (2008) argued that the Calgary
stampede is rooted in conservative
political ideologies ( cited in Smith,
2013).
 HOW TO FORMAT IN-
TEXT CITATIONS
(INSIDE YOUR WRITING)
IN APA STYLE
In-text citations must be placed inside
the text of your assignment every time
you use a source.
APA style uses the author-date
method with brackets ( ) to include
3 parts in the following order:
(1) author(s) last name;
(2) publication year; and
(3) page, paragraph number, or
heading.
Assignment
1. Research on citing articles in
journals, newspapers, magazines, &
other sources in APA style (6th
edition).
2. Be ready for a quiz.
 To
Cite
Is
Right!
 References
“Chicago, Illinois.” ByCityLights.com. 31 October 2007 <bycitylights.com/cities/us-il-chicago-history.php>.

“Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism: The WPA Statement on Best Practices.” Online posting. 22 October
2007 <http://wpacouncil.org/positions/plagiarism.html>.

Moulton, Janice and George Robinson. “Plagiarism” Encyclopedia of Ethics, 2nd ed. New York: Routledge,
2002.

“Plagiarism.” Online posting. 25 October 2007

<http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/plagiarism.html>

Rigotti, Nancy A., Jae Eun Lee, and Henry Wechsler. “U.S. College Students’ Use of Tobacco Products.”
Journal of the American Medical Association 284 (2000): 699-705.

Stepchyshyn, Vera and Robert S.Nelson. Library Plagiarism Policies: CLIP Note #37. Chicago: American
Library Assocation, 2007.

Smith, J.O. "Fourier Theorems for the DFT" in Mathematics of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) with
Audio Applications, 2nd ed. 2007. 31 October 2007
<http://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jos/mdft/Fourier_Theorems_DFT.html>.