What is a citation?

Citing a source means that you show, within the body of your text, that you took words, ideas, figures, images, etc. from another place. Citations also gives your readers the information necessary to find that source again-- it provides an important roadmap to your research process. Whenever you use sources such as books, journals or websites in your research, you must give credit to the original author by citing the source. 

Why do researchers cite?

Citations:

1. give credit
2. add strength and authority to your work
3. place your work in a specific context
4. leave a trail for other scholars

Watch the video linked below provided by the UNC Writing Center to learn more about why citing information is important. 

You must cite content that did not originate with you, but is used to support your writing. This includes:

• Facts, figures, ideas, or other information that is not common knowledge (summarizations and paraphrases)
• Ideas, words, theories, or exact language that another person used in other publications (quotations, phrases, sayings, etc.)
• Publications that must be cited include:  books, book chapters, articles, web pages, theses, etc.
• Another person's exact words should be quoted and cited to show proper credit 
• audio or visual material (photos, videos, screencaptures, powerpoint slides, social media content, audio recordings, etc.)

When in doubt, be safe and cite your source!

The citation style you choose will largely be dictated by the discipline in which you're writing. For many assignments your instructor will suggest or require a certain style. If you're not sure which one to use, it's always best to check with your instructor or, if you are submitting a manuscript, the publisher to see if they require a certain style. In many cases, you may not be required to use any particular style as long as you pick one and use it consistently. If you have some flexibility, use the guide below to help you decide.

No matter which style you use, all citations require the same basic information:

• Author or Creator
• Title
• Container (e.g., Journal or magazine, website, edited book)
• Date of creation or publication
• Publisher

Different subject disciplines call for citation information to be written in very specific order, capitalization, and punctuation. There are therefore many different style formats. Three popular citation formats are MLA Style (for humanities articles) and APA or Chicago (for science or social sciences articles), and IEEE (for engineering). Different journals may call for specific citation formats. 

Citation tools are convenience software that may streamline the process of citing sources to save you time and energy in your research process.

At UCSC Library, we support Zotero, a free citation management software.