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English 12 - Class of 2018: Virtual Portfolio: Citations

Giving Credit

When do we give credit?

 

The key to avoiding plagiarism is to make sure you give credit where it is due. This may be credit for something somebody said, wrote, emailed, drew, or implied. Many professional organizations, including the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association (APA), have lengthy guidelines for citing sources. However, students are often so busy trying to learn the rules of MLA format and style or APA format and style that they sometimes forget exactly what needs to be credited. Here, then, is a brief list of what needs to be credited or documented:

 

Direct Quotations & Paraphrased Ideas

This list includes the following:

  • Exact words or a unique phrase

  • Words or ideas presented in a magazine, book, newspaper, song, TV program, movie, Web page, computer program, letter, advertisement, or any other medium

Information gained from Someone Else

This list includes the following:

  • Interviews

  • Conversations

  • Face-to-face discussions

  • Phone conversations

  • Text conversations

  • Emails

  • Tweets

  • Skype / FaceTime / etc.

Visual Information

This list includes the following:

  • Diagrams

  • Illustrations

  • Charts

  • Photographs

  • Artwork

  • Other visual materials

Reused or Reposted, Royalty Free Media

This list includes the following:

  • Images

  • Audio

  • Video

  • All other media

Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)

MLA 8th Edition