Why citing sources is important

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Work at the Library Student job application form Jobs at the library. Reasons for Citing Sources. Remote Research Help Appointments. You should cite the sources of information you use in your academic work because: Citing makes your work more credible.

Citing tells your reader where you found your information. Citing allows your reader to learn more, beginning with your sources. Citing gives credit to the people whose words or ideas you are using. But looking at citation from a purely ethical standpoint misses a great deal of the purpose of citing sources.

Citation is about giving credit where credit is due. This is by far the most common reason given for citing sources and the justification that comes up the most when dealing with plagiarism in academic tribunals and editorial boards. The idea is fairly straightforward: great writing of all types is built at least in part on the work of others.

However, that work comes at great time, expense and effort. Attribution, in this context, is a small pittance paid to the original creators for the use of their work. It costs nothing, takes little time and does nothing to impede the writing of a new piece.

Basically, citation is a way to pay a small token to the creators and whose work yours is built in part upon. This not only encourages your readers to check out their work, possibly giving some additional attention to them, but also shows an appreciation and acknowledgement for their efforts.

But while the ethical argument for citation is important, it ignores the more practical reasons to religiously cite your sources. The better documented your research and arguments, the more credible you are to your scientific colleagues. Citation enables better verification of your work.

Any piece of academic writing gets vetted several times over before it finally makes it into print or onto a website. Whether one is a peer reviewer, editor, or editorial assistant whose job is simply to track down sources in the bibliography and make sure that the citations are accurate, life is simply easier when there is less busy work.

So, your paper is much more likely to be passed through these multiple rounds of editing with minimal criticism and positive feedback if you have already taken the trouble to attribute your information correctly and cite all your sources. In a future article, we will discuss strategies for integrating good citation practices when writing and revising your articles.

Until then, incite yourself to cite when you write! The following is a list of suggested readings on the subject of citation. The citation style used in this bibliography is that adopted by the American Psychological Association APA , 6th edition, which I chose because it is one commonly used in many scientific journals. Bryson, D. Using research papers: citations, referencing and plagiarism. Journal of Visual Communication in Medicine , 35 2 , 82— Clarke, R.

Plagiarism by academics: More complex than it seems. Journal of the Association for Information Systems , 7 2 , 5. Culwin, F. Plagiarism issues for higher education. Vine , 31 2 , 36— Karami, M.