Information on APA citations and avoiding plagiarism.

1. In-Text Citations:
Providing
Attribution and
Avoiding
Plagiarism

2. What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism is using the words, ideas,
research results, formulae, images,
or data from another person
without giving credit to the originator
of those words, ideas,
research results,
formulae, images
or data

3. Why is it essential that you provide
citations?
By providing
citations to other
works, a writer is
showing how they are
entering into the
conversation of a
given field, building
upon what’s already
been said and adding
their own voice.

4. When do you need to
cite a source?
Whenever you use the
 words (written or spoken)
 ideas
 theories
 research results
 images or
 data
of another person--unless that
information is common knowledge

5. What is “common
knowledge?”
“Common knowledge” is anything that is
considered known by the vast majority of the
population—or found in generalized
encyclopedias and/or dictionaries.
Of course, common knowledge is not always
correct – so it’s nearly always preferable to
check the facts and cite a source.

6. Example of when you would be
expected to cite a source:
When you’re including information that isn’t common
knowledge, you would want to cite it:
William Butler Ogden, the first mayor of Chicago, designed
the first swing bridge over the Chicago River (ByCityLight,
2).
The complete reference for this source would then be found
at the end of the paper in the “Works Cited” page:
“Chicago, Illinois.” ByCityLights.com. 31 October 2007
<bycitylights.com/cities/us-il-chicago-history.php>.

7. Another example:
As Julius Smith notes, “[i]n 2D, the Pythagorean Theorem
says that when x and y are orthogonal… then we have:
║x+y║2
= x║ ║2
+ y║ ║2
(x y).┴ ” (Fourier Theorems)
The “Works Cited” page would include this citation:
Smith, J.O. "Fourier Theorems for the DFT" in
Mathematics of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT)
with Audio Applications, 2nd
ed. 2007. 31 October 2007
<http://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jos/mdft/Fourier_Theore
ms_DFT.html>.

8. It’s fairly obvious that
copying directly from a source
without using quotation marks
and not providing a citation is plagiarism.
What about when we copy from a source and
change a few words (i.e., paraphrase) without
indicating its originator?
This is also plagiarism.

9. Why is paraphrasing
plagiarism?
If you steal your roommate’s pillow and put it in your
pillowcase, it is still your roommate’s pillow, right?
Reproducing ideas or theories that you did not originate is
similar – the core is not something you created, you
have merely altered the packaging.

10. APA Style Citations

11. • Center the title (References)
at the top of the page. Do not
bold it.
• Double-space reference
entries
• Hanging Indent
• Order entries alphabetically
by the surname of the first
author of each work

12. • Invert authors’ names (last name first followed by initials)
• EX:“Smith, J.Q.”
• Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title
and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the
title, and proper nouns. Do not capitalize the first letter of
the second word in a hyphenated compound word.
• EX: The perfectly formatted paper: How the Purdue
OWL saved my essay.

13. • Capitalize all major words in journal titles
• Italicize titles of longer works such as books and
journals
• Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the
titles of shorter works such as journal articles or
essays in edited collections

14. APA is a complex system of citation. When compiling the reference
list, the strategy below might be useful:
1. Identify the type of source:
Is it a book? A journal article? A webpage?
2. Find a sample citation for this type of source
Check a textbook or the OWL APA Guide:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
3. “Mirror” the sample
4. Make sure that the entries are listed in alphabetical order and that
the subsequent lines are indented (Recall References: Basics)

15. In-text citations help readers locate the cited
source in the References section of the paper.
Whenever you use a source, provide in
parenthesis:
• the author’s name and the date of
publication
• for quotations and close paraphrases,
provide the author’s name, date of
publication, and a page number

16. Provide the author’s last name and the year of
publication in parenthesis after a summary or a paraphrase.

17. Include the author’s name in the signal phrase,
followed by the year of publication in parenthesis.

18. Introduce quotations with signal phrases, e.g.:
According to Xavier (2008), “….” (p. 3).
Xavier (2008) argued that “……” (p. 3).
Use such signal verbs such as:
acknowledged, contended, maintained,
responded, reported, argued, concluded, etc.
Use the past tense or the present perfect tense of verbs in
signal phrases when they discuss past events.

19. When the parenthetical citation includes two or
more works, order them in the same way they appear in
the reference list—the author’s name, the year of
publication—separated by a semi-colon.

20. When citing a work with three to five authors, identify all
authors in the signal phrase or in parenthesis.
(Harklau, Siegal, & Losey, 1999)
In subsequent citations, only use the first author's last
name followed by "et al." in the signal phrase or in
parentheses.
(Harklau et al., 1993)

21. When citing a work with six and more authors, identify the first author’s
name followed by “et al.”
Smith et al. (2006) maintained that….
(Smith et al., 2006)

22. When in doubt…
 Ask your professor!
 Ask at the Writing Center!
 Ask a librarian!
 Consult online resources such as Purdue’s Online Writing Lab