Why Citations?

Writers use citations to give credit to their sources. Citations are important for two reasons:

1. They help you avoid plagiarism
2. They help readers retrace the path of your research 

SOURCES MATTER!
When Reading: 
If a claim seems questionable, or if you need more information, use the writer’s citations to find their original sources.

When Writing: 
Cite your source whenever you quote or paraphrase information from someone else.

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Research Paper Citation Guide

Recommended Citation Tools

1. NoodleTools 

NoodleTools is the best choice for serious research projects. It will alert you when a citation is wrong, and explain how to fix it. It can export your works cited page, and import citations from books and databases. It also has tools for note-taking, organization, and collaboration. Check out this YouTube playlist for help getting started.

Log in with your Google account.

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2. Google Docs Citation Tool

The citation tool built into Google Docs is the best choice for smaller assignments. It can generate website citations and format a works cited page in seconds, although it can make mistakes and must be checked for accuracy. 

Open a Google Doc and navigate to "Tools > Citations" on the top menu.
​Click the picture above for help getting started.

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3. Purdue OWL

Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab has detailed models and citation guides. Unlike other tools, it won’t do any of the work for you, but it’s a fast and helpful reference when you’re ready to start constructing your own citations.

Click the logo above for the OWL MLA guide.
Click here for the APA guide.

Citation Tool Comparison

Plagiarism

​Plagiarism is the act of stealing and using the ideas, data, and writing of another as if they were one’s own. A person has plagiarized when they:

1. Copy phrases, sentences, or paragraphs out of books, magazines, or other source and presents it as his/her own.
2. Present someone else’s argument, opinion, idea, or style as his/her own.
3. Copy someone else’s paper and presents it as his/her own.
4. Borrow facts, statistics, data, or other illustrative unless information is common knowledge. Submit as their own any academic exercise (e.g. written work, documentation, lab reports, and homework, photographs, or artwork) prepared totally or in part by another.
5. Use of artificial intelligence, such as AI, Chat GPT, etc.

Source: Cazenovia High School Student Handbook, page 55.