CITING OTHER AUTHORS IN YOUR PAPER

This is Dr Bartkus' explanation of how to handle quoted phrases, facts, opinions gathered from various sources.   You are also urged to read the CBPA guidelines on Plagiarism.

Many college level papers include quoted material or information that has been previously published.   You must always give the original author(s) credit by acknowledging where the information was first published.  This requires that you include the author's name and year of publication after the quoted phrase and/or fact/opinion along with detailed information on the source in a reference list.   (In many assignments/classes, endnotes and footnotes are also acceptable).

If you quote a phrase from any source (including the text or the case) you must use quotation marks.  Any time you use the same identical wording you must use quotation marks.  You must also identify precisely where you found that phrase:  who is the author, what is the page number? 

A good rule of thumb is that a minimum of five to six quoted words together need to have quotation marks.  But even shorter phrases (two or three words) need to have quotation marks if the phrase is particularly unusual.  For example, if you see the phrase, "Las Vegas has always been a gambler's mecca" it is an interesting combination of words, and if that particular combination of words is someone else's idea, the credit for creating that combination must be given to the one who said it first!  Even if you only use the last two words of the phrase "gambler's mecca" - quotation marks are needed.

Paraphrasing is MORE than merely changing the order of words:  Changing "a gambler's mecca" to a mecca for gamblers is not really paraphrasing but  it isn't really a quote either. You could rephrase it to something like a "mecca" for a speculative risk-taker. But be sure the original meaning is still clear. Notice that "mecca" is still in quotes!

At the end (or the beginning) of the quoted phrase, you need to identify the reference.    Travel Weekly (1992) states that Las Vegas is now more than a "gambler's mecca."

If the author is unknown:

Las Vegas is more than a "gambler's mecca" ("Family market grows", 1992).

The reference list would show:

If you knew the author of the article, the author's name would be listed in the body of the paper (in place of Travel Weekly), and the reference would change to:

Author's name, A. (1992) Family market grows in importance; city no longer merely a 'gambler's mecca.' Travel Weekly, March 2,v51 n18 p47-49. Retrieved January 3,2004 from General Business File, ODU online information source.

Data, facts,and opinion from various sources. Sometimes information is not quoted; but it is secondary information.  Secondary information is factual information that you did not personally collect.  You need to identify the source of the information immediately after presenting the information. (Immediately means at the end of the sentence!).   The end of the report will include additional detailed information as to the identity of the source.

ONLINE INFORMATION & THE REFERENCE LIST

In your reference list identify the precise page you found the information, the owner of the website, the date the page was  created or modified. Also include the date that you found the information on web and list the web address.'

Notice that: you are (1) identifying the precise web page in which you found information, (2)  identifying the owner or the company that sponsors the website, (3) including the date the page was created or modified, (4) the date you found the information, and (5) the precise web address.

The ODU Library has additional information that can assist you in citing specific articles and books, here's the link to style guides.