It's important to cite your sources, for a variety of reasons:
"If it is not your original words or ideas, give credit to the person whose words or ideas you are using," advises the UA's Dean of Students Office. Plagiarism violates the UA Code of Academic Integrity. Complete your own projects and papers, cite the work of others, and avoid these sanctions.
For more guidance on avoiding academic integrity violations, review these brief suggestions by the Dean of Students Office.
You should always cite the work of others when paraphrasing, summarizing, or using direct quotes from another source. Review these definitions and examples to become familiar with these contexts. It is not necessary to cite information that is common knowledge, or your own original ideas, thoughts, words, and analysis. It's understandable to question how often you need to cite your sources, but it's generally better to be safe.
Every discipline tends to follow a unique, consistent citation style when writing and conducting research. Depending on your major and the instructors you have, you may come across several different citation style requirements over the course of your academic career. If an instructor requires the adherence to a specific style, they will often state this in the syllabus or assignment outline. When in doubt, ask your instructor.
While citation styles may vary in punctuation, capitalization, and content requirements, the goal of a citation is always to make it clear and simple how one might locate and access that specific source for future reference. The elements to a citation (author, title, publication, publication date, access information, etc.) should work together to point the reader to a unique source.
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