IDS 101: Allies, Accomplices, Co-conspirators: White People’s Role in Antiracism

When you conduct research, you always need to cite your sources. You need to show where you found your information; it doesn't matter what type of source it is, whether print or online, an image or a conversation. If it is not your original idea or work, it probably needs to be cited.

Why cite sources?

• To give credit to others who created the work.
• To clearly separate your own thoughts from others.
• To give authority to your own work.
• To demonstrate that you compared and contrasted other's work.
• To help readers retrieve sources you used and verify information. 
• To ethically use information sources. 
• To prevent plagiarism. Being found guilty of plagiarism may lead to disciplinary actions or even expulsion. 

Different academic disciplines have different stylistic standards when it comes to citing sources of information.  Style guides describe how to properly and consistently cite your sources of information.  They provide guidance on the appropriate way to include information such as the author, title and publisher of a book or the volume, issue, and page numbers of a journal article.  If you don't know, talk to your professor about which citation style they want you to use.