Library Home: Copyright & Citing Sources: Why Cite?

Give credit where it is due, it is the smart (and ethical) thing to do.

Use attribution or citation for all borrowed content.
Bonus: You also avoid plagiarism (theft of credit) by giving credit to your sources.
Surprise: Avoid self-plagiarism by citing yourself when re-using your content.

Make the citation like an address, so people can find original content.

Use only one citation style per project (APA or MLA most common). Ask your teacher what style they prefer.

Use suggestions provided by databases when available.

Ask your teacher if the database cite suggestion is good enough, or whether you need to further check your style with a style manual (especially in technical and upper level writing courses).

Copy/paste and alphabetize citations yourself, or use a citation manager if you have a large number of resources.

Table of Contents: Copyright & Citing Sources

Copyright & Citing Sources Home
Chasing Citations: When you read something and want to find the original.
How a citation is like an address.
APA and MLA examples from the "Write Way"
"Write Way" also has link for WCONLINE (Appointments/ Registration)
Copyright and Copy (property) Rights
The copyright owner has the right to make a profit on every copy.
Copyright Clause
Fair Use Makes use of copyrighted material without permission legal, under certain circumstances. Usually, just one copy for personal non-commercial educational use. Does not include workbooks unless copyright owner grants permission.
Fair Use or Permission needed?
TEACH Act
"Fair Use" vs "TEACH Act"
Sharing Links Ethically and Legally
Plagiarism (credit theft)
Plagiarism is theft: Taking credit for an idea, image, or other original piece of content that you did not originate.
Self-Plagiarism (reusing your previous work without citing)
Public Domain
Public Domain and .gov
When in doubt...
Next Step: Writing Help