This document provides information on using evidence and citing sources properly. It defines what evidence is, the different types of evidence, and the three main ways to use evidence - quoting, paraphrasing, and citing. It emphasizes the importance of citing sources to avoid plagiarism. It explains what information needs to be cited and how to format in-text citations, parenthetical citations, and create a Works Cited page in MLA style. It also provides examples of how to integrate quotes into writing and addresses special cases like long quotes or quotes within quotes.

1. Using Evidence and Citing Sources

2. What is evidence?
• Evidence = information that helps explain
and prove your ideas
• Types of evidence include the following:
• Specific Examples
• Facts
• Statistics
• Opinions from experts
• Maps, charts, graphs

3. What are three ways to use evidence?
• Quote it  place in quotation marks
everything that comes
directly from the text.
• Paraphrase it restate the idea in
your own words.
• Cite it  give the source where you
found your information
http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/writing_plagiarism.html

4. Terms to know…

5. It’s important to tell where you found your evidence.
Citing your sources = telling where you
found your evidence
• Not citing your sources= plagiarism
• Plagiarism is stealing because you are
using another person's words, ideas,
or images without giving credit to
that person.
http://libguides.collegeofsanmateo.edu/content.php?pid=112738&sid=1451036

6. http://classguides.lib.uconn.edu/content.php?pid=50827&sid=386249 on

7. What information needs to be cited?
• OK to use common
knowledge - facts
that can be found in
many places and are
likely to be known by
a lot of people.
• Not OK to use another
person's ideas,
opinions, theories,
statistics facts or
spoken words which
are not common
knowledge.
http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/writing_plagiarism.html

9. Source
a term used to
describe the
place where
information is
found such as in
an article, book,
or website

10. • citation (noun) = information about a
book or article such as the title, author,
and date which someone can use to find
the same book or article
• to cite, citing (verb) = to tell where you
found your evidence and information.
• MLA style = a specific way to format
citations and bibliographies used in
English literature classes
http://libguides.collegeofsanmateo.edu/content.php?pid=112738&sid=1451036

11. • common knowledge - facts that can be found
in many places and are likely to be known by a
lot of people.

12. What are In-Text Citations or
Parenthetical Citations?
An in-text citation identifies the source where you
took a specific quotation, fact, idea, or opinion.
In-text citations are also called parenthetical
citations because they appear in parentheses.
For Example:
One author claims that “no one is concerned with
this issue” (Jones 45).

13. In-Text Citation vs. Foot/Endnotes
 In-text citations lead readers to specific
works listed on the Works Cited page.
 Footnotes and endnotes provide readers with
the explanatory information:
 Content notes offer additional comments,
information, insight, etc., not provided in the text
 Bibliographic notes provide information on
additional sources or comments on other sources.

14. When do I use an in-text citation?
1. You directly quote a source.
2. You paraphrase a source (even if you change the word
order and replace words with synonyms).
3. You use an idea from a source. Because the idea is
not originally yours, it belongs to the author(s) of the
source and must be cited.
4. You use information that is not common knowledge.

15. What are the features of an in-text
citation/parenthetical citation?
Example:
She said, “This is a quote” (Burkhart 1) .
• The citation includes the author’s name and page #.
• The end punctuation mark goes AFTER the citation,
not inside of the quotation marks.
• In-text citations refer the reader to an entry on the
Works Cited page
Burkhart, Mary. Tips for Writing
Consultants. Scranton: Scranton Books,
2008. Print.

16. Fairy Tales
by Hans
Christian
Anderson
Here is a source.
Once upon
a time there
was a girl.

17. To use a direct quote do this:
I just read a book that
begins “Once upon a
time there was a girl”
(Anderson 2).
Once upon a time
there was a girl.
Fairy Tales
by Hans Christian
Anderson
This tells you
the author.
The quotation marks
show you that these
words are written the
exact same as the
original source.
This tells
you the
page
number.

18. What is a Work Cited page?
• Also called a bibliography
• Located at the end of your essay
• Contains enough information
that the reader can find the
source you are citing.

19. Remember:
• You can paraphrase your evidence or
you can directly quote your
evidence, but you must always tell
where you found the information by
giving an in-text citation.
• Remember, telling where you found your
information is called citing your sources.

20. How do I create a Works Cited page?
• Citations are listed alphabetically according to the
first word in the entry
• Citations are double-spaced
• Use hanging indentation; this is the opposite of
how you indent a paragraph. The first line takes
up the entire line and then every line after it is
indented 5 spaces.
• Websites like www.easybib.com help you create
an MLA works cited citation.
For example:
Truth, Sojourner. Narrative of Sojourner Truth. Ed.
Margaret Washington. New York: Vintage, 1993. Print.

21. How do I create in-text
citations?
• Your citation goes at the END of the
SENTENCE, not directly after the
quote.
• Although “this is a quote,” it is not
very interesting (Galbraith).

22. What if my quote is really long?
• Any quote OVER 4 typed lines needs to be in
the following format:
You will leave off the quote marks. You
will also indent the whole thing into a
block like you see here. You will place the
citation outside the punctuation
mark, which is different from regular
citations. (Galbraith 1)

23. What if I am directly quoting a source,
but need to change a word?
• If you need to change a word inside of
the quote, use [brackets]:
• “We didn’t always live on Mango
Street” (Cisneros 3).
• “[Esperanza] didn’t always live on
Mango Street” (Cisneros 3).

24. How do I quote something that
already uses quotation marks?
• When quotation marks already appear
around the text (such as in dialogue),
you will punctuate it like this:
“‘Stop,’ yelled Amanda” (Smith 27).
Single quotation
marks surround the
dialogue.
Double quotation
marks surround the
entire quoted
material .

25. How do I integrate quotes into
my writing?
1) Introduce the information with a
complete sentence followed by a colon.
2) Introduce the information with an
introductory statement, followed by a
comma.
3) Weave the information into a sentence.

26. #1 Integrating Quotes
• Write a complete sentence followed by a colon.
• If you make a statement using a complete
sentence, you can support your statement with
a quote in the following fashion:
• Humans are a major cause of global
warming: “Our dependency on petroleum
based products is a major issue when it
comes to global warming” (Adams 17) .

27. #2 Integrating Quotes
• Write an introductory statement, followed by
a comma.
• If you want to introduce something that was
said or thought, you would use the following
integration technique:
• According to Dr. Matthew Price, “AIDS
rates are increasing among American
teenagers" (12-13).
Because the source is already
mentioned in the introductory
statement, you don’t have to
restate it in the parentheses.

28. #3 Integrating Quotes
• Make the quote part of the sentence
itself.
• You can weave your quotation into the
sentence itself in the following
manner:
• Blood Diamonds are often “trafficked
across the borders of politically
unstable countries” in order to make a
profit (Stevenson 13).

29. Practice
• Turn to page 4 and practice citing your sources
and embedding quotations into your writing.
• When you finish, place this handout in the
Notes section of your binder.