English Pathfinder: Citing Sources



College Policy on Citing Sources and Plagiarism

It is necessary for you to give proper credit to all of the resources you use in your research papers. Plagiarism is a violation of Dickinson's Student Code of Conduct, and is a specific form of cheating defined in the code as follows:

1) To plagiarize is to use without proper citation or acknowledgment the words, ideas, or work of another. Whenever one relies on someone else for phraseology, even for only two or three words, one must acknowledge indebtedness by using quotation marks and giving the source, either in the text or in a footnote.

2) When one borrows facts which are not matters of general knowledge, including all statistics and translations, one must indicate one's indebtedness in the text or footnote. When one borrows an idea or the logic of an argument, one must acknowledge indebtedness either in a footnote or in the text. When in doubt, footnote. (Academic Standards Committee, November, 1965)

You should include appropriate citations in all of your research. Your professor will direct you as to what style he or she prefers; the English Department usually prefers the MLA Style.


How to Cite

The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (REF LB2369 .G53 2003) will help you construct correct citations in MLA format.

 

Web Sites:

Citing Resources in MLA Style
A brief overview of MLA style, includes sample citations.

MLA (Modern Language Association)
The "official" site, includes regular updates.

Citation Styles (MLA, APA, Chicago, CBE)
An all purpose web site from Bedford/St. Martin's publishers. It is contained in Online: a Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources.

Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format
Excellent website created by the Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL).

Writing with Sources
Gordon Harvey's Expository Writing Program at Harvard University.