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The Research Paper

Part 5: Citing your sources in your paper and avoiding plagiarism

Now that you have made certain that the information you want to use in your paper came from reliable and credible sources, you must begin to integrate this information into your writing, however, your reader must be able to distinguish your thoughts from those of others. We do this by parenthetically documenting in our paper exactly where we got the information from. This is called citing.

Why do we cite?

A research project requires that you use information that you bring together from all sources. To avoid plagiarism--using information that is taken from someone else without crediting that person--we use parenthetical documentation within the paper. By citing the source in the paper and then again in the Works Cited page, you make certain that the reader of the paper can find the information readily if they choose to read the original source. Citing "experts" makes for a stronger paper and demonstrates your ability to gather new information, make it part of your knowledge and organize the new information to support your paper or project.

Using the Ideas of Others

As I begin to organize the rough draft of my research paper, I need to use information I’ve found in the sources on my Working Bibliography to support my thesis statement.

I can incorporate someone else’s idea in my paper in one of three ways:

By SUMMARIZING -- stating the essence of the idea in just a few words.
By PARAPHRASING -- stating the entire idea in my own words.
By QUOTING -- using the author’s exact wording.

For example, I have found an idea that I think supports my thesis statement and I want to use it in my paper. Here is the actual text from the book, The Art & Music of John Lennon by John Robertson discussing what many feel to be the Beatles' biggest contribution to music, the 1967 album, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band:

"What 'Pepper' does have is imagination--a rich, playful experimentation with sound and lyric that opened the eyes of the audience and fellow musicians alike." (67)

I could quote it in my paper as it is using quotation marks, noting the last name of the author and the page I found the information.

I could also summarize the idea: Pepper's impact was it's musical creativity. (Robertson 67)

I could also paraphrase the idea: Pepper was a creative blend of sound and lyric that fascinated musicians as well as the audience. (Robertson 67)

Putting it all together...

Working Bibliography

Thesis Statement

Parenthetical Documentation

=

Rough
Draft

Contrary to what many believe, the Beatles demonstrated more musical innovation in later works rather than in their early recordings.

In 1970 the Beatles completed Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Band, an album with "imagination--a rich, playful experimentation with sound and lyric that opened the eyes of the audience and fellow musicians alike." (Robertson 67)

(Robertson 67) identifies and credits author Robertson as the source of the idea or, in the case above, an exact quotation from Mr. Robertson found on page 67 of the book The Art & Music of John Lennon. By citing Robertson we have successfully avoided plagiarism.

Click here for a review of why we cite, what needs to be cited and how to cite.

END OF PART 5