Integrating Sources Into Your Work
Integrating a source means using another person's work (article, video, etc.) to help build your credibility and argument. There are three main ways of integrating sources into your paper:
Quotations
Duplicating a small portion of the original source by quoting the author's work word-for-word. Quotations should be identical to the source material, and you should use your own words before and after the quote to explain the significance or importance to readers.
Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing puts an excerpt from a source into your own words, rephrasing but not shortening it. Paraphrase when a quote won’t quite fit into the grammar or tone of your own writing.
Summarizing
Summarizing boils a text down to its essential points. It is especially useful for incorporating other authors’ big ideas without sacrificing too much space in your own writing.
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When Should I Use Quotations?Information on when to quote, how to quote, and how often to utilize quotes in academic writing from the University of North Carolina Writing Lab.
Citing Sources Banner
Your paper, essay, speech, presentation, or other work
should be a dialogue between your thoughts and ideas
and the information in your sources.
Why and How?
Why do we cite?
- Avoiding plagiarism
- Showing readers (and professors) that you have done your research
- Providing information that allows readers to find the sources you used
- Giving credit to authors and content creators
How do we cite?
- Citation style guides provide guidelines on formatting citations
- Consistent formatting allows for citations to be read and understood easily
- In-text citations identify all words or ideas that are not your own
What citation style should I use?
- The type of citation style that is best for your assignment depends on which discipline your course is in and your instructor's preferences.
- History courses and historians often use the Chicago/Turabian style.
- Be sure to check your assignment or syllabus, or ask your instructor to make sure you use the citation style they prefer!
Check out the Chicago style guide resources in the box below.
Chicago Style
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Excelsior Online Writing Lab - Chicago StyleThis site provides support for Chicago style citations. It features pages that show you how to set up your papers in Chicago style, interactive checklists, and visual support for both in-text documenting and referencing at the end of your paper.
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Official Chicago Manual of Style Site - Citation Quick Guide SamplesThe official website for the Chicago Manual of Style includes a citation quick guide with sample citations.
Citation Creation and Managment Tools
Many library databases and online tools will generate source citations for you. It is important to remember that while these tools are incredibly helpful, they are not 100% reliable! You should always double-check any auto-generated citations for accuracy before submitting your assignment.
Citation managers help you to quickly create, store, and access your citations. Some allow you to store your research documents and auto-generate bibliographies.
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ZoteroZotero is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, annotate, cite, and share research.
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MendeleyMendeley is a free reference manager and academic social network. Make your own fully-searchable library in seconds, cite as you write, and read and annotate your PDFs on any device.
Retrieving Citations in CardinalSearch
- In the results screen, click on the three dots in the upper right corner of the source record
- In the expanded menu that appears at the bottom of the source record, click "Citation"
- Select the appropriate citation style on the left side of the content box, then copy the citation to your clipboard
Retrieving Citations in Ebsco Databases
- In the results screen, click on the the title of the source you want to cite
- In the Tools menu on the right side of the source record screen, select "Cite"
- Scroll down to copy the appropriate citation style in the middle of the page
Retrieving Citations in ProQuest Databases
- In the results screen, click on the quotation mark icon to the right of the source you want to cite
- Use the drop down menu in the pop-up window to select the appropriate citation style
- Hit the "Copy" button to copy the citation to your clipboard
