Citation Basics (APA, Chicago, MLA)

"Ethical conduct is the obligation of every member of the KCC community. Breaches of academic integrity constitute serious breaches of ethical conduct. Academic integrity requires that all academic work be wholly the product of an identified individual or individuals. This policy demonstrates the College’s concern for academic integrity and guarantees a fair procedure for handling these concerns."

This video created by the Delta Career Education Library discusses what plagiarism is and how it can be avoided. Although the citations given as examples are in APA, the principles apply to all scholarly writing.

For students writing papers, the most frequent academic integrity violation is Plagiarism, which involves using the ideas and words of another without giving credit. 

• Sometimes it can be hard to determine if you have plagiarized or not.  While it may not seem like a big deal, plagiarism is really a form of stealing and it not appropriate in the academic or professional environment. Students have failed courses, writers have lost jobs and scholar reputations have been diminished by plagiarism. 
  
  
• The online environment provides additional temptations to plagiarize as it is easy to copy and paste information from the Web. Instructors know this and are able to diagnosis plagiarism. The good news? It is easy to avoid Plagiarism.
  

1. Here are some guidelines to help:
   
   When directly quoting from an article or book, always provide an in-text citation with the author's name and the page number of the quote (follow the format assigned by your instructor).  Your reference list will supply the full citation, but the in-text citation alerts the reader you are using another's idea and gives the author the credit they deserve.
   
   
2. Paraphrasing involves putting another's information into your own words and, like a direct quote, requires an in-text citation.  In this case, however, you do not need to use quote marks or provide the exact page number, but you do need an in-text cite with the author's name, which signals to the reader you have paraphrased. Generally, this in-text cite some at the end of a paragraph where you have paraphrased.
   
   
3. Ask your instructor if you are unsure about a particular situation. In general, if you are in doubt, cite the source!