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MAT 502

This guide will provide information that can be referenced quickly in order to retrieve high quality Education research and cite it correctly

CITING YOUR WORK

REASONS FOR CITING SOURCES

Citing your work is crucial at this point of your career.  There are several important reasons to cite your sources.  The following are from Portland Community Library.  I like them because they are thorough and concise:

  • Citing makes your work more credible
  • Citing tells your reader where you found your information
  • Citing allows your reader to learn more, beginning with your sources
  • Citing gives credit to the people whose words or ideas you are using
  • Citing protects you from plagiarizing

 I want to point out to you the "Citation Help" tab on the library web page.  Here you will find links to citation styles.  Scroll to the bottom of the screen and you will see a list of citation generators.

Remember, generators and pre-created citations are great starting points.  However, you should always check the citation against the style that your instructor has specified

 

Reference:

Reasons for citing sources - pcc library. (2019). Retrieved June 18, 2019, from https://www.pcc.edu/library/research/reasons-for-citing-sources/

CITATION GENERATORS

ZoteroBib (zbib.org)

ZoteroBib is a free citation generator that was created by George Mason University in Virginia.  This generator contains over 9,000 citation styles, and most importantly, one of them is APA style which is required for this course.  It is the generator that we recommend to our students  because it will help you build a bibliography as you go and tends to be 80% to 90% accurate. 

It has the following features:

  • Citations can be generated by using the DOI (Direct Object Identifier), the PMID (Pub Med IDentifier), or searching by title
  • There is a Manual entry form that has several formats that can be used to fill in information
  • ZoteroBib will alphabetize your citations as you go so that they will be in alphabetical order.  You will need to double check this but it is usually pretty close.
  • You can copy the bibliography to your clipboard.  When you paste the Bibliography into your document, the correct spacing and indentation for your style will be inserted.
  • You can save your Bibliography for 6 months and modify it within that time frame as long as you save the link.

Directions for using ZoteroBib are provided on the library web page next to the ZoteroBib link on our KCU library web page.

If you have a different generator that you prefer to use, that is fine.  ZoteroBib is merely our recommendation because it is free and fairly accurate. 

WHEN SHOULD I CITE?

When Should I Use a Citation?

  • Whenever you directly quote information from an article, you must use an in-text citation and a bibliographic entry on your Reference page.
  • Whenever you paraphrase from an article, you should use an in-text citation and a bibliographic entry on your Reference page.
  • Whenever you use an idea from an article, you should use an in-text citation and a bibliographic entry on your Reference page.

As a general rule, if you are not sure if you should use a citation, it is better to be cautious than to not provide accurate credit.  If you do not provide credit to the original source, you are plagiarizing.  Plagiarizing violations have severe repercussions.  Please see your syllabus and KCU student handbook for consequences for plagiarizing which is considered a form of cheating.

Remember that you can always contact the library for assistance.