This document provides a broad overview of the practice of citing sources. It discusses why learning to cite sources is an essential part of your education, as well as why failing to cite your sources properly can have serious consequences. This document covers a wide range of scenarios relating to citing sources, plagiarism, and Dartmouth’s Academic Honor Principle.
Unlike its predecessor, Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgement, this document does
not give specific examples of how to cite in common formats, such as the MLA, APA,
and Science styles. Although many disciplines represented at Dartmouth use these styles,
citation styles vary among disciplines and even among professors within the same
discipline. Develop the habit, in each of your classes and with each of your professors, of
learning the conventions of when and how to cite. Here is the best single piece of advice
that we can offer:
Whenever you have any question about whether to cite or how to cite,
ask your professor.
At the Reference Desk at Baker-Berry Library you can find copies of commonly used
style manuals such as The MLA Handbook, The Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association, and The Chicago Manual of Style. You can take advantage of
the Library’s subscription to the online edition of The Chicago Manual of Style. The MLA and APA style
manuals are not available online, but you can access many reliable, non-affiliated guides
(see, most prominently, Diana Hacker’s Research and Documentation Online). At the Reference Desk, librarians can also assist you with formatting your citations and bibliography
Proper citation lies at the heart of intellectual exchange. By citing sources correctly, you
acknowledge your debts to other scholars, signal your desire to belong to a community of
ideas, and highlight—precisely—your contribution to the ongoing academic
conversation. When you demonstrate that you have done the research required to qualify
you to join the conversation, you not only show respect for others’ work, you also confer
authority upon yourself and highlight the novelty of your particular contribution to the set
of ideas under discussion. In these ways, citing sources represents a fundamental step in
developing a scholarly voice.
Furthermore, by citing sources you extend a courtesy to other scholars. Citations provide
a trail by which others who are interested in your topic can track an idea.
Plagiarism is intellectual theft. It occurs when you use the words or ideas of others
without acknowledging that you have done so. If you are aware of a source, use an idea
or quotation from this source, and fail to cite it, then you have plagiarized—regardless of
your intent.
• If you quote from a source, you must specifically mark the quoted material and
immediately cite the source. Place the quoted text in quotation marks or format it
as a block quotation. Your citation should appear at the point of quotation, either
in parentheses or in a footnote or endnote. Listing the source in a bibliography
does not, by itself, constitute proper citation; you must cite at the point of use.
• If you quote a distinctive phrase, or even a single distinctive word, place it in
quotation marks and cite the source.
• If you paraphrase an idea or special information from a source—that is, if you
restate the idea, but alter the exact wording—you must cite that source.
• If you use images, maps, charts, tables, data sets, musical compositions, movies,
new-media compositions, computer source code, song lyrics, and the like, you
must cite the source.
• If you find a solution to a problem on a website and use that solution—even if you
use it just to teach yourself how to solve the problem—you must cite the source.
• If you want to submit the same work, in whole or in part, for more than one
course, then, according to Dartmouth’s Academic Honor Principle, you must get
the approval, in advance, of all professors involved.
Citation styles and formats matter, but style and formatting errors do not constitute
plagiarism. As long as you properly cite your source at the place where you use
another’s words or ideas, you are not plagiarizing. Once style and formatting errors are
brought to your attention, you should correct them for the benefit of readers who might
wish to trace your sources.
Just as there are consequences for theft of property, there are consequences for
plagiarism. Because academic integrity is so fundamental to the Dartmouth community,
students who violate this standard usually are suspended from the College—even upon a
first offense and even if they did not intend to plagiarize.
The rule seems simple: Whenever you quote from or use another person’s work, that
author must be cited. But what should you do when you are writing about an idea that
did not originate with you, that seems to be part of “common knowledge,” and that you
may or may not have taken from a specific source? While you do not need to cite
common knowledge, it may prove difficult for you to recognize what knowledge is
“common.”
Try to determine how scholars treat similar information. Do they cite it? If not, it is
probably common knowledge, at least within this particular discipline. Do some cite
while others do not? Play it safe, and cite. Is the information in question brand new
information for you? Are you unable to find that information in multiple sources?
Again, play it safe, and cite. If you need further confirmation, ask your professor.
In some courses, you might be permitted to collaborate with other students on work that
you submit for grades. Policies regarding collaboration vary from course to course, and
often from assignment to assignment within the same course. If you are considering
working with someone else on an assignment, make sure that you understand the policy
on collaboration for that particular assignment. Students have been found responsible for
violating the Academic Honor Principle for collaborating outside the expressed bounds of
an assignment.
For further discussion of working ethically in collaboration, see section 2.B,
“Collaborating with Your Peers.”
In coming to Dartmouth, you join a scholarly community, a group engaged in various
intellectual conversations. Some of these conversations have continued for several terms,
some for decades, and others for centuries. Your professors want you to join in. Every
Dartmouth student has the capacity to contribute new perspectives to the ongoing
conversation of scholarship. The faculty and librarians will help you.
Imagine the following.1 You enter a dining hall, get your meal, and sit down at a table
where people are engaged in a lively conversation. You listen for a few minutes and then
decide to join in by picking up on one of the conversational threads. Following the
etiquette of good conversation, you would not repeat someone else’s idea, passing it off
as your own. Instead, you would credit the original speaker, building on this idea by
giving it a new twist, or using it to launch your own perspective.
The conventions of a dinner conversation resemble those of a scholarly conversation.
When you compose a paper, a lab report, a presentation, or a film, you add your voice—
your ideas, your point of view—to a conversation that is in progress. When you
acknowledge and cite your sources, you act as a responsible member of the scholarly
community. Those reading or viewing your work know that you have done your
research; they can tell which ideas in the work are yours. If you fail to cite your sources,
you will be thought of as a poser or a fraud. At best, you will leave your readers or
viewers confused about which ideas are yours. At worst, they will know that you have
taken credit for the work of others and will regard you as an intellectual thief.
Alas, the practice of citing sources is not always as straightforward as it might seem.
Below, we examine some of the issues that arise as you work with and cite sources, that
is, as you participate in those conversations we call scholarly. Some of these issues relate
directly to plagiarism; others deal more broadly with careful, responsible academic work.
Many students envision citing sources as the final step in the writing process. They
collect their materials, make notes, and draft their arguments. If they find themselves “on
a roll,” they may not want to stop to check or to cite their sources, figuring that they can
add the citations later on as finishing touches. But this practice is neither efficient nor
safe. It is far better practice to cite your sources as you find them and use them.
When you decide to use a source, fully record all the information required to craft a
citation. When you make note of a particular passage, be careful to include the page
number. If you make careful notes, you will not need to search the source to identify
missing details later.
Also, be careful when you cut and paste your sources from your notes to your paper. It is
all too easy, while composing, to cut and paste a quotation from your notes without also
pulling along the citation. Sloppy note-taking does not excuse plagiarism.
In sum, do not wait until the final draft to insert citations. The take-home message: cite
while you write.
Being part of a scholarly community often requires that you collaborate with others on
your work. Collaborating can pose special problems. We offer here some typical
examples of collaboration and the citation challenges that they raise.
When assigning problem sets, professors expect you to turn in your own work. If your
professor allows you to talk to others in the class or use the course textbook or web
resources, you should be careful to abide by the professor’s guidelines for using these
resources. When in doubt about how to collaborate and cite appropriately, ask your
professor.
In many laboratory science courses, you are expected to work in teams to complete
experiments. You share the equipment, resources, and data with other students during
your time in the lab. Following the experiment, you are often expected to write up your
results independently of other students. Be sure that the written work you submit is your
own. If you have talked with or worked with other classmates, cite them in your lab
reports. It is important to consult the professor or teaching assistant about the
expectations for independent work. You should not assume that the lab rules used in one
course apply to another course. Some professors do not allow any exchange of data or
tables. Consult the syllabus before deciding whether and how to share results.
Most courses that assign computer programs allow you to discuss problems with other
students in the class, but you should not copy code from others in order to correct errors
in your own code. When you submit a computer program as coursework, unless you
have a partner, you should have created it, typed it in, documented it, and generated
output by yourself. In most courses, you may consult with the professor, teaching
assistants, and classmates while designing your solution. Finally, you should attribute
any source that helped you design, write, or debug your code.
When you are asked to write collaboratively, be sure that you understand the terms of the
collaboration and that you follow them carefully. Consider recording who does what, in
terms of writing and research, and make the record available to all collaborators, so that
no one will dispute what it contains, should some aspect of the collaboration come into
question. If particular students have completed specific tasks (one has done the research,
another the drafting, another the editing and citation checking), you might want to make a
note of this distribution of labor at the paper’s end. Because you are responsible for the
content of any work that bears your name, you should read over any such work before it
is submitted.
In courses on non-English languages and literatures, instructors generally evaluate your
writing not only on the content of your arguments but also on correct usage of the foreign
language. In such courses, you should always ask your professor for instructions on
whether, or how, you can seek stylistic or grammatical help while writing in the foreign
language.
For example, some language professors encourage students to consult a dictionary first,
and only then to ask for help about a specific case—from the professor, a friend whose
knowledge of the foreign language is more advanced, or a host family if you are studying
abroad. You should not ask these parties to revise, edit, or correct a draft of your paper,
however.
If you consult grammar books, seeking to write at a level significantly exceeding the
instruction currently offered in your course, you should cite those reference works.
If your language course provides a teaching or writing assistant, always ask your
professor exactly how you may use such assistance as you compose and revise written
work in the foreign language. Your work should always represent your effort and
knowledge both in content as well as in usage of language.
Suppose you come up with an idea and then discover that someone else has already
published it. You might feel discouraged, but you could also regard this experience as
proof that you, too, are capable of coming up with publishable ideas. Scholarship is a
conversation, much of it in print, and becoming a scholar involves joining in. You can
enter the conversation in any number of ways, always citing the sources of these ideas.
• You can agree with other scholars but push their ideas a step or two further, or in
another direction entirely.
• You can agree with their analyses and then put those same observations and
analyses to work on another text, event, or problem.
• You can recast the problem in entirely new terms and point out other scholars’
unacknowledged assumptions.
• You may, after further reading and thought, decide that you disagree with the
prevailing critical opinions and proceed from there.
One thing you certainly should not do is proceed as if you had never discovered that
someone else already published your idea. Finally, if you are worried about having
something original to contribute to the scholarly discussion, make an appointment to see
your professor. Do it early in the process. Professors have been facing this predicament
for years and know how to help you.
As you write essays and develop presentations, you may want to include images, audio,
or video clips to make your argument. You may legally use these images, without
permission, for academic purposes. You may not, without permission, post your work
online or display it in any for-profit setting. To do so would be in violation of U. S.
copyright laws.3
When using an illustration in your essay, be sure to cite its source according to your
professor’s guidelines or to the guidelines of the department or program in which the
course is offered. When creating a film, be sure to cite sources and give credit at the
film’s end. If you use images, video, or audio in a presentation, determine a strategy for
citation, providing the source on the slide where the borrowed material appears. If this
citation practice is not appropriate for the discipline, provide citations at the
presentation’s end.
The style of attribution in oral or multimedia presentations varies considerably, but the
guiding principle is acknowledgment. Always let your audience know when you are
using someone else’s idea or material in your presentation. Say “quote” and “end quote”
if you use a passage verbatim. You might also mention when and where a source first
appeared because the time and appearance of the idea may provide useful context for the
presentation. Saying where the source was published can also add an element of
authority. But these details are not necessary as long as you indicate to whom the idea or
work belongs. Your audience can see you afterward if they want more details on your
sources.
In addition to citing your sources and your collaborators, scholarly practice calls for you
to acknowledge those who have helped you develop your work. You may wish to
acknowledge comments made in class by other students, consultations with your
professors, or other informal conversations. Scholarship has always been a social activity
and we get important—even mind-changing—ideas from personal communication all the
time. In the absence of guidance from your professor, your conscience and judgment
should guide your decisions about acknowledging this help.
The quality of sources varies greatly, and a source that is appropriate for one type of
work might be inappropriate for another. This section provides tips to help you find and
assess the quality of sources.
In any conversation, the speakers may have different levels of credibility. Some seem
widely read, knowledgeable and able to defend their views confidently and persuasively.
Others may exaggerate, oversimplify, or make leaps of logic that render their claims less
believable. As you join such conversations, you invariably listen to assess the credibility
of the various participants.
In a scholarly conversation, the analog of listening is research. Like speakers, individual
sources may vary in their degree of credibility. The better you understand the
perspectives and contexts reflected in a source, the richer your analysis of that material
will be.
Primary sources, produced by the actors whom you want to study, usually reflect a range
of interests and credibilities. Indeed, it is precisely their unique and time-dependent
content that makes primary sources—novels, memoirs, advertisements, political
speeches, census data, even earlier texts of history or science—so rich for analysis.
Secondary sources, produced by scholars seeking to analyze, arrange, and understand the
worlds of primary sources, also exhibit varying degrees of credibility and interests. You
might read a literary critic differently if you know he is reviewing a colleague’s book, or
a sociologist differently if she is employed by the tobacco industry, or an economist
differently if her work is published by a Washington think tank rather than a university
press.
The question, therefore, is not simply whether or not your sources are credible. Rather,
you should ask to what extent they are credible and to whom. Being critically aware of
the perspectives and interests behind your sources will help enhance the sophistication
and credibility of your own analyses and conclusions.
Here is a list of tips developed by Dartmouth librarians that will help you gauge a
source’s credibility:
• Who wrote it? What are the author’s background and credentials? Does the
author have the expertise to write on this topic? Look for information on the
author’s academic affiliation or a brief biography in the front or back of a book, or
with the abstract of a journal. You might also look up the author in the Library
Catalog or through Search360 to see what else he or she has written. You can
also Google the author to find his or her homepage or affiliation. The Web of
Science Citation Databases, a scholarly database available through the Library,
will allow you to see how many times an article has been cited in other articles—a
measure of its influence.
• Where was it published? Is it in a scholarly journal? Look for a statement
indicating that the journal is peer reviewed (that is, that the articles are
independently evaluated by experts in the field). Many scholarly journals are
published by university presses (such as Harvard University Press), professional
societies (such as the American Medical Association), or scientific publishers
(such as Elsevier).
• Who is the intended audience? Is it written for other scholars and researchers?
Look at the language of the article to determine whom the author is writing for.
Note whether the writer uses professional jargon or specialized terminology.
Consider whether the writer assumes that readers have some background in the
field in order to understand the article’s basic terms and premises. Also consider
the organization of the article. In some disciplines, professional articles will have
a predictable structure, perhaps including an abstract, methodology, results,
analysis, and conclusion.
• Is it timely? Is its currency appropriate for its field? The accuracy of a source
may depend on the field. In the sciences, an article from just a year or two ago
may be outdated, whereas in the humanities, there may be a wider window of
timeliness. For some very recent topics, newspapers, magazines, and other
popular periodicals may be your best resources.
• What are the article’s sources? Does the author draw upon a context of
research? Look at the footnotes and bibliography to see if the author cites other
published research in the same field. Skim the article to see if it offers a
“literature review” or summary of the research on the topic. Determine whether
or not the author uses a range of sources—articles, books, reports, etc.
The world of information is like a house, full of rooms containing knowledge. Google
will get you onto the front porch of that house, and maybe it will get you in through the
front door. But it will allow you only a peek down the hall and up the stairs. The
scholarly conversation—the network of research, discussion, and publication in which
your professors participate—typically happens in scholarly journals that are available
through the Dartmouth Library.
Many students begin their research using Wikipedia. Although Wikipedia may be useful
in providing a general overview of a topic—helping you to get your bearings, be certain
of facts, or define some basic terms—it is not scholarly. You will need to find academic
sources for your research, since the scholarly conversation is not taking place on
Wikipedia.
That said, you certainly will find scholarly information available on the free internet.
Here is a list of tips developed by Dartmouth librarians that will help you assess online
sources:
• Who wrote it? Look at the site’s URL. Is the site a personal website, hosted by
an internet service provider? Is it a .org, a nonprofit organization? Or is it a .edu,
coming from an academic institution? Clearly a .edu site is more likely to be
scholarly than a personal website. But use caution: .edu sites may contain
postings by students and others who have no particular authority on the topic. Try
to find out as much as you can about the writer of the source you are using.
• Why and for whom was it written? Ask yourself what the purpose of the site
might be. Many websites will have a section that says “About ...” or “FAQ.”
These often tell you a good deal about the site’s credibility.
• Is it current? Consider the timeliness of the site. Is the site being maintained and
updated? Note that, unlike published print, the online medium allows updates at
any time. Be sure to make note of the exact date on which you consulted the
website and to include the access date in your citation.
• What sources does it use? Understand that the content of many websites is taken
(if not plagiarized outright) from other sources. Check the website against several
sources in order to determine whether or not the web writers have used their
sources responsibly.
• Why are you using it? Finally, ask yourself whether you have a compelling
reason to use a website in the first place. Is a website an appropriate resource for
your topic? Should you look for the information somewhere else?
The Library has many resources to help you with your research. The Library Catalog
contains information about everything owned or licensed by the Library—over two
million books, over 20,000 print and online journals, and over 12,000 videos and other
media items. If you are looking for articles in scholarly journals, the Search360 tool will
allow you to search many of the Library’s databases simultaneously. After starting there,
you might see which databases Search360 uses for your search, and perhaps explore more
specific searches. For example, if you were interested in how memories of the Holocaust
have been represented in graphic novels, you might start with a Search360 search using
keywords such as “Holocaust” and “graphic novels”—checking the box for “Literature
and Theater” under “Arts and Humanities.” Looking at the search results, you might see
that there are 11 interesting articles in a database called Academic Search Premier. You
might then decide to do more searching there, using additional search terms.
Or, you could browse the Resources by Subject portal on the Library’s website, looking
at the guides to research in specific subjects to find resources that are relevant to your
topic. Of course, you can always ask a librarian for help getting started.
The best resources within the Library are librarians themselves. The librarians are here to
help you navigate scholarly databases and the network of academic resources. Many of
your professors will invite a librarian to class to discuss finding and evaluating resources
for your papers. Be sure to take advantage of the help you are offered. When in doubt,
do not hesitate to ask a librarian or, of course, your professor.
1 This example is adapted from Kenneth Burke, The Philosophy of Literary Form (Baton Rouge:
Louisiana State University Press, 1941) 110–11.
Sources and Citation at Dartmouth College 6
2 Cite While You Write™ is a feature of EndNote, a software package that facilitates proper
citation.
3 According to the fair use exemption of U. S. Copyright Law, “Students may: Use digital images
in an academic course assignment such as a term paper or thesis, or in fulfillment of degree
requirements. … [p]ublicly display their academic work incorporating digital images in courses
for which they are registered and during formal critiques at a nonprofit educational institution. …
[r]etain their academic work in their personal portfolios for later uses such as graduate school and
employment applications.
Laura Braunstein
Thomas H. Cormen, Co-chair
Karen Gocsik
Irene Kacandes
Richard Kremer
William Lotko
Thomas Luxon, Co-chair
Adrian Randolph
April Thompson
