Library Resources Home: Writing Help (The Write Way): Citing Sources

What You Need To Understand

Give credit where it is due, it is the smart (and ethical) thing to do.
Bonus: You also avoid plagiarism (theft of credit) by citing sources.

How a citation is like a treasure map
Copyright and Copy Rights
The copyright owner has the right to make a profit on every copy.
Fair Use
Makes use of copyrighted material without permission legal, under certain circumstances. Usually, just one copy for personal non-commerical educational use. Does not include workbooks unless copyright owner grants permission.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is theft: Taking credit for an idea, image, or other original piece of content that you did not originate.
APA Style Manual, 6th edition
American Psychological Association (APA)
MLA Style Manual, 8th edition
Modern Language Association (MLA)

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FVTC Copyright Policy

How do I write a citation?

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 such as KnightCite if you have a large number of resources.