Do You Have to Cite if You Already Know It
8-How to Cite Sources
When to Cite
Citing sources is oft described as a straightforward, rule-based practice. But in fact, in that location are many gray areas effectually citation, and learning how to apply citation guidelines takes practice and education. If y'all are confused by it, you are not alone – in fact you might be doing some skilful thinking. Here are some guidelines to help y'all navigate commendation practices.
Cite when you are directly quoting. This is the easiest rule to understand. If you are stating discussion-for-word what someone else has already written, you must put quotes around those words and you must requite credit to the original author. Not doing and then would hateful that you are letting your reader believe these words are your own and represent your own endeavor.
Cite when you are summarizing and paraphrasing. This is a trickier area to sympathize. First of all, summarizing and paraphrasing are two related practices simply they are non the same. Summarizing is when you lot read a text, consider the main points, and provide a shorter version of what y'all learned. Paraphrasing is when you recapitulate what the original writer said in your own words and in your own tone. Both summarizing and paraphrasing require good writing skills and an accurate understanding of the material you are trying to convey. Summarizing and paraphrasing are difficult to do when you are a beginning academic researcher, only these skills become easier to perform over time with do.
Cite when you lot are citing something that is highly debatable. For example, if you want to claim that the Patriot Human activity has been an important tool for national security, you should be prepared to give examples of how it has helped and how experts take claimed that it has helped. Many U.S. citizens concerned that it violates privacy rights won't concord with you, and they will be able to find commentary that the Patriot Act has been more than harmful to the nation than helpful. Y'all need to be prepared to bear witness such skeptics that yous accept experts on your side, too.
Tip: Why Cite Sources?
This section covers how and when to cite sources. For a discussion of why to cite sources, meet Ethical Use of Sources.
When Don't You Cite?
Don't cite when what you are maxim is your own insight. As you lot learned in The Purpose of Academic Argument, research involves forming opinions and insights effectually what you learn. You may exist citing several sources that have helped yous learn, but at some betoken you must integrate your ain opinion, conclusion, or insight into the piece of work. The fact that you are non citing it helps the reader understand that this portion of the work is your unique contribution adult through your own research efforts.
Don't cite when you are stating common knowledge. What is mutual knowledge is sometimes hard to discern. In general, quick facts like historical dates or events are non cited because they are common knowledge.
Examples of information that would not need to be cited include:
- The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.
- Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United states in January, 2009.
Some quick facts, such as statistics, are trickier. For instance, the number of gun-related deaths per year probably should be cited, because there are a lot of ways this number could be determined (does the number include murder but, or suicides and accidents, too?) and in that location might exist different numbers provided by different organizations, each with an agenda well-nigh gun laws.
A guideline that can assistance with deciding whether or not to cite facts is to determine whether the same data is repeated in multiple sources. If it is not, it is all-time to cite.
The other affair that makes this conclusion difficult might exist that what seems new and insightful to you might be mutual noesis to an expert in the field. Yous have to use your all-time judgment, and probably err on the side of over-citing, every bit y'all are learning to do academic research. You can seek the advice of your teacher, a writing tutor, or a librarian. Knowing what is and is non common noesis is a practiced skill that gets easier with fourth dimension and with your own increased knowledge.
Tip: Why You lot Tin't Cite Wikipedia
You've likely been told at some point that you can't cite Wikipedia, or any encyclopedia for that matter, in your scholarly work.
The reason is that such entries are meant to prepare y'all to practice enquiry, not be testify of your having done it. Wikipedia entries, which are tertiary sources, are already a summary of what is known almost the topic. Someone else has already done the labor of synthesizing lots of information into a curtailed and quick mode of learning near the topic.
So while Wikipedia is a great shortcut for getting context, background, and a quick lesson on topics that might not exist familiar to you, don't quote, paraphrase, or summarize from it. Just apply it to educate yourself.
Source: https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/choosingsources/chapter/when-to-cite/