A Quick Guide for Using Citations

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A Quick Guide for Using Citations I. Why
cite? II. What should I cite? III. How should I
cite?
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• Why Cite?
• To back up your assertions (otherwise they are
  just unsupported opinions)
• To give credit to others for their ideas (i.e.
  not to take credit for ideas that are not
  yoursthis would be plagiarism)
• To show your instructor that youve done the
  readings and know how to use them properly in an
  assignment

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What should I cite?

• Facts (e.g. statistics) that have been produced
  by a particular person or organization.
• You dont need to cite the date of an historical
  event or other facts that are widely known, but
  you should cite your source for stating something
  like what the U.S. poverty rate is for a given
  year or for referring to an event that you claim
  took place that is not common knowledge, etc.
• Ideas and words of others
• Using someone elses ideas or words without
  acknowledgment is plagiarism. See the links at
  the departments plagiarism web page for the
  subtleties of this. Plagiarism can occur even
  with citation.

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• How Should I Cite?
• There are many different citation formats.
• Your instructor may tell you if one particular
  format is required
• What is most important is that you understand
  when to cite and that you cite consistently and
  properly
• A few examples of ASA citation style will now be
  provided

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• In-Text Citations
• Most social citation formats use in-text
  citations as opposed to footnotes or endnotes.
• E.g., in ASA format
• Markowitz (1998246) argues that.
• Domestic violence has been found to be associated
  with previous child abuse (Smith 2000 Jones and
  Klein 1998, Katz et al 1996).
• With the establishment of a relationship of
  oppression, violence has already begun (Freire
  197141).

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• Reference List
• In ASA format, you entitle this section
  References at the end of your text and list all
  the sources you referred to in your in-text
  citations.
• Examples of Book or Chapter in Book
• Wood, Robert E. 1986. From Marshall Plan to Debt
  Crisis Foreign Aid and Development Choices in
  the World Economy. Berkeley and Los Angeles
  University of California Press.
• Best, Joel and Gerald T. Horiuchi. 2001. The
  Razor Blade in the Apple The Social Construction
  of Urban Legends. Pp. 167-179 in Exploring the
  Social Readings in Contemporary Society, edited
  by P. Kivisto. New York McGraw-Hill.

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Reference List Examples of Articles
Lindquist, Christine H. 2000. Social
Integration and Mental Well-Being Among Jail
Inmates. Sociological Forum 15431-455. Kane,
Tim. 2004. Labors Lost Jobs. New York Times,
April 7. Retrieved April 7, 2004.
(http//www.nytimes.com/2004/04/07/opinion/07KANE.
html)
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• This short PowerPoint guide gives you only a
  brief introduction.
• Consult the departments plagiarism page at its
  web-enhanced curriculum for details on what it
  plagiarism and what is not.
• Consult the citation page for the various
  citation formats and for examples of more types
  of sources than those covered there.