Transcript Citing Sources

Where did you
get your
information for
your research
assignment?
Sometimes you will be asked to write about
your own thoughts and opinions. You don’t
need to list your sources of information in this
case.
Other times you will be asked to write about
something you may not be too familiar with.
That’s when you will need to do some research,
and that’s when you need to document or cite
your sources of information.
Cite means “mention” or “list” or “quote”
For everything you use for your research report
or project that hasn’t come out of your own
head or from your own creative rendering,
you need to make a record of that source
whether it’s:
• Information
• Photographs
• Illustrations
• Charts
• Music
• A video clip
that you’ve taken from a
• Book
• Magazine or newspaper
• Web site
• Online Database
• Or even a person
Stop and write down where you found that
information.
Don’t forget to record
the page numbers with
your research notes.
(if the pages are numbered)
• Websites like Google or Yahoo
are not sources; they are search
engines
• Wikipedia & Websites like Ask.com
are not authoritative sources
• Use tools & links from your library
Website for Web sources
which are referred to as “medium,”
will either be:
• Print [book, newspaper,
magazine, etc. ] or
• Web [Website, database,
online encyclopedia, etc.]
You need to write down the following information so
you will be able to create a citation for that source:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Author (if it has one)
Title (of book or article)
Publisher (or periodical* title)
Year of publication (or day Mon. year for periodical)
Page(s) (where the info was taken from)
Medium of Publication. (Print)
*Periodical means something published periodically at regular
intervals, like a monthly magazine or daily newspaper
1. Author. (if it has one)
2. “Title.” (of article if it has one)
3. Title of Web site. (in italics if you’re typing)
4. Medium of Publication. (Web)
5. Volume & Issue
6. (Year Published): Page(s)
7. Database Name. (for example: EBSCO)
8. Date of Access (the date you found the info)
Use the “Easy Bib Collector” form or the “My
Research Sources” form to record the
information you need to document your
sources.
(Battle)
•Following the borrowed
information, illustration, etc.
within your research paper,
enclose in parenthesis the
author’s last name and page
number(s) on which the
information was found.
From the Battle of the Alamo in 1836 where William Barrett
Travis led a motley group of fighters to sacrifice their lives for
Texas’ freedom (Murphy, 2-3) to the fearless Texas Rangers who
maintained law and order in a wild and sometimes savage land
(Texas), Texas has one of the most colorful and exciting histories
in our country.
•If no author is listed, use the
first main word in the title,
ignoring “A,” “An,” or “The” if a
title starts with one of them.
•If no page numbers are given,
just use the author or main word
alone.
Bibliography
Anderson, Ken and Melissa . You Can’t Do that, Dan Moody!
Austin: Eakin Press, 1998. Print.
Battle of the Alamo. Illustration. <www.sonofthesouth.net>. Web.
15 Dec. 2012.
LaBanca, Frank. “The 21st Century Oral Presentation Tool Bag.”
Science Teacher. Vol. 78 Issue 7. (Oct. 2011): p. 51-55. EBSCO.
Web. <webebscohost.com>.
Murphy, Jim. Inside the Alamo. New York: Delacorte Press, 2003.
Print.
Ramsdell, Kristin. “A Texas Christmas.” Library Journal. Vol. 136
Issue 17. (2011): p. 69. EBSCO. Web. <webebscohost.com>.
“Texas Rangers.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Web. 28 Sep.
2012. <http://school.eb.com/comptons>.
Van Cleve, Donna. Feathers. Hutto, TX: Two Story Publishing
House, 2012. Print.
•List your citations alphabetically by
the authors’ last names;
•If no author is listed, use the first
main word in the title or search term
(not “A,” “An,” or “The”)
•Skip lines between each citation
•Indent the second line
If you don’t, you’re taking credit
for someone else’s work.
Plagiarism occurs when someone fails to give credit
or cite a source for something borrowed for a
report or paper. Intentionally or not, it’s a form
of stealing, saying:
“I thought this up,”
“I created this myself,” or
“This was my idea.”
In school, the consequences may mean a lower
grade or even a failing grade if an assignment was
simply copied and pasted off the Internet with no
sources cited.
Outside of public school, the consequences of
plagiarism are much greater, including the
possibility of getting kicked out of a class or even
college, losing one’s degree, losing one’s job,
losing one’s reputation, or even getting sued.
• Write down the source when you
use others’ information or work
• Designate the borrowed information in your
research paper by putting the author’s name in
parenthesis and page #, if given.
• Compile your list of sources on a “Bibliography”
page. Other titles that can be used are “Works
Cited,” “Reference List,” or “My Sources”
If you simply copy and paste information and
cite your sources correctly, you may get a
grade, but have you learned anything?
A research should make you think and
question and investigate and draw
conclusions.
Did you learn something new?
One must be careful to not
miss the learning in the
pursuit of the grade.
It’s the learning that will go
with you in life… not the
grade.
--Donna Van Cleve
“Cite.” Merriam-Webster. Web. 15 Sep. 2011. <http://www.merriam-webster.com>.
“Consequences of Plagiarism.” Baylor School. Web. 22 Jan. 2013.
<http://mail.baylorschool.org>.
“Six Consequences of Plagiarism.” iThenticate. Web. 20 Jan. 2013.
<http://www.ithenticate.com>.
Van Cleve, Donna. Shelf Mouse Illustrations. Jan. 2013.