VCU Writes: A Student’s Guide to Research and Writing

You should cite your source any time you are using information that does not come directly from your own personal experience or is considered common knowledge. This is true whether the material you are using is a direct quotation or a summary of a source in your own words (a paraphrase). The VCU Libraries Guide page “When do we cite?” has helpful videos that will walk you through this process. You can also review our “Quoting and Paraphrasing” pages for MLA or APA to see how each citation style demonstrates source use.

Citation in a research paper or project is the equivalent of reporting the steps of your experiment in a lab-based project, or showing your work when solving a math problem: it allows other scholars to understand your learning process and recreate your research in order to validate it.  It also helps you think through your own learning process or argument as you write and allows you to enter the conversation already happening between people interested in your topic. For more on why we use citation in research, see “Academic Integrity” and the VCU Library Research Guide “Why We Cite and Avoiding Plagiarism.”

When choosing a citation style, check with your instructor: many instructors will ask you to use a specific style for a given assignment. If your instructor has left the choice up to you, in general, match the subject and/or methodology of your writing to your citation style: sciences tend to use APA, literary humanities tend to use MLA, and history and religion tend to use Chicago.

For more information on the differences between citation styles, see the following reading selections:

• “Everything Changes, or Why MLA Isn’t (Always) Right” – Writing Spaces
• Why Are There Different Citation Styles? – Yale University

Yes! Summarizing in your own words, or paraphrasing, is describing ideas learned from a research source in your own voice, and must be cited. Think of it this way: even if you are not citing individual words, it is important to give credit to the source for the ideas you learned from that source. In fact, this is the most common way of using a source in your own writing, and should make up the majority of your source use in a research paper. See our “Quoting and Paraphrasing” pages for MLA or APA to see how each citation style demonstrates source use.

In American academic culture in general and VCU in specific, it is assumed that in each semester, any work you have submitted for credit for a course is new work you have generated to satisfy the specific requirements of that course. Unless you tell your instructor otherwise, they will assume that any text or work you submit is something you have made by yourself, without anyone else’s ideas or information, for that course and only that course.

Plagiarism is therefore any instance in which you present someone else’s work or your own old work as your own new work. Plagiarism includes unintentional plagiarism (forgetting to cite a source or not knowing that you needed to cite a source) as well as intentional plagiarism (deliberate misrepresentation of sources or their information). When you enrolled in a course at VCU, you agreed to be bound by VCU’s Honors Code, which describes several kinds of academic dishonesty, including plagiarism.

For more information on academic misconduct, see the VCU Honor System page. If you are currently enrolled in a UNIV 111, 112, or 200 class, you can see your course syllabus or policy guide for more information on plagiarism, as well as asking your instructor. You can also learn more about plagiarism and how to avoid it in the “Academic Integrity” section on this site, and the VCU Library Research Guide “Why We Cite and Avoiding Plagiarism.” For in-person assistance with getting started on correct citation format, you can see your instructor, as well as make an appointment at the Writing Center or with a librarian.

MLA:

• For examples of in-text MLA citations for a variety of source types, click here.
• To see examples of full end citations in MLA, click here.

APA:

• For examples of in-text APA citations for a variety of source types, click here.
• To see examples of full end citations in APA, click here.

First, it’s always a good idea to check with your instructor for their policy on using citation tools, as they may prefer that you avoid them while you are learning proper citation methods. If permitted, citation generation tools such as these suggested by Cabell Library can be helpful in getting started with citation. However, like all tools, they require the user to understand the desired product in order to be effective: you need to know what accurate citation looks like in order to be sure your tool is giving you correct results. As a result, it is worth your time to learn to generate citations on your own using the VCU Writes! Citation guides. You should also use this site to error-check the citations generated by citation tools, so that your final list of citations is consistent and accurate.

There are two places where citations are expected: in-text (which means citing a quotation, paraphrase or summary in the main part of your essay or project), and in your list of full citations at the end. Also remember that the in-text citations should correspond with your list at the end of your paper or project.

• Click here for more information on where and how to cite in MLA.
• Click here for more information on where and how to cite in APA.

Parenthetical citations are the additional source info you include in your paragraphs when you use any research in your writing. They should be placed right after the quoted or paraphrased material in the body of your essay. Depending on how you’ve introduced your source info and what citation format you are using (MLA, APA, etc.), parenthetical citations might include just a page reference, an author name and page reference, or other source info. For examples on how to do this accurately in MLA, click here. For examples in APA, click here.

A “signal phrase” is the language you use before a quotation or paraphrase that introduces your source info. It “signals,” or alerts your reader, to the fact that you are about to share someone else’s ideas. Typically, this will include the author’s name; it can also include the author’s credentials or the title of the work your quotation or paraphrase comes from. If you are using APA, it would also include the year of publication. The phrase should be blended into the context of your sentence so that the ideas flow. Think of it like introducing two people you know who don’t know each other–you would mention their names, along with something about them. Except here, you are introducing the author of your source to your reader/audience. Here’s an example (the portion in bold is the signal phrase):

On the efficacy and importance of religion, David Hume asserts, “The life of man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster” (319).

For more on using signal phrases, click here for the MLA guidelines, and click here for the APA guidelines.

If the source you are citing doesn’t have an author listed, you use the title of the source. For an example of how to do this in MLA, see “work with no identified author” on the MLA in-text citations page. For an example of how to do this in APA, see “work with no identified author or anonymous author” on the APA in-text citations page.

VCU Writes offers sample formatted source lists for both APA and MLA styles. In APA, the source list is called References, and you can find an example provided here. In MLA, the source list is called Works Cited, and you can find an example provided here.

At the end of your essay or project, you should always have a full list of the sources you used, so that readers can look up your source info if interested or at least see the context of your research. As with most things regarding citations, there are specific “rules” for formatting your list of sources at the end of your paper or project.

One thing that might seem natural is to number your list of sources–after all, it’s a list–but this actually creates a lot of confusion for an experienced academic reader. Why? Because then the source list will look like endnotes in your paper, which is an entirely different thing (see the q/a about endnotes & footnotes elsewhere on this page). So, to avoid confusion, format your source list in the following manner:

1. Title your list with the appropriate name: Works Cited in MLA, or References in APA.
2. Double-space the entire list, just as you (hopefully) did with the rest of your essay.
3. Start your citations with the author’s last name first (or the title, if no author is available).
4. Alphabetize your entire list.
5. Use hanging indent* format.

*“Hanging indent” is basically a reverse paragraph indent, and it makes the author’s name stand out so a reader/viewer can find the source easily on your list. To find out how to create a hanging indent format in your Google drive or Word doc, click here.

Footnotes are additional brief notes of explanation or recommendations for further reading located at the bottom (or footer) of a page near the spot in an essay where the topic of the footnote is being discussed. A footnote is indicated by a superscript number in the paragraph (after the applicable sentence) that matches the number of the note at the bottom of the page.

Endnotes are also additional notes of explanation or reading recommendations, but occur at the end of the essay, before the list of full citations.
Generally speaking, for most undergraduate academic writing you will not be asked to use footnotes or endnotes. Further, most academic style guidelines discourage them as well (including MLA and APA). This is because footnotes and endnotes can often be a distraction or confuse readers, especially if not used appropriately. And in some instances, students mistakenly combine endnotes and their references section, thinking that they are one and the same (which further adds to the confusion). So, unless your professor specifically requires them, it is often best to leave them out, or at the very least double-check that they are permitted.
If you do get the go-ahead to use footnotes or endnotes, remember a few things:

1. Always use one or the other method (either at the bottom of the page, or the end of the essay); not both.
2. If your note becomes extremely long, the idea is probably important enough to discuss in your actual paper, rather than begin placed in a note that may or may not be read.
3. Also a good rule of thumb: When in doubt, leave it out. Does your reader really need this extra info to make sense of your ideas, or is this just adding filler to your paper?
4. Endnotes and footnotes should not serve in place of your end citations list.
5. For formatting suggestions on creating end or footnotes, see Purdue OWL’s page on the subject.

While we hope that we have provided enough resources to help you with your work, we realize that we cannot possibly cover everything. If you can’t find a citation example on our site, here are a few other sites that might have what you’re looking for:

• Purdue’s Online Writing Lab (OWL)
• UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center

You can also ask your professor, or use a print version of a writer’s handbook such as A Writer’s Reference (just make sure it’s a recent version, as citation styles change over time). And please remember: we want VCU Writes to be the best resource possible for you, so if there is something missing, consider contacting us and offering a suggestion.