LibGuides: Citation Guides: Citation Overview

Citation Introduction

**What is Citation and Why Do It?**
Gives credit to the author of your sources Helps reader/audience find out more about your topic Shows where to find particular sources which may include the author's name, date, publishing company location, journal title Helps avoid plagiarism
What is Citation Style? Determines the necessary information for a citation and how the information is arranged, as well as punctuation and other formatting MLA (Modern Language Association) format is used for humanities and literature works APA (American Psychological Association) is used for technical and scientific works

Please watch the following video, which discusses the definition, purpose, benefits, and basics of citation:

"Citation: A (Very) Brief Introduction" by NCSU Libraries is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the copying or close imitation of information from a published source

Plagiarism is not allowed at San Jose City College. If a student is caught plagiarizing, he or she could fail the class or even be expelled. To avoid plagiarism you must put quotation marks around information that is directly copied from a source and cite all thoughts, ideas, arguments, research, quotations and obscure facts taken from your sources using a recognized citation format like MLA or APA.

BibMe

Use EasyBib, BibMe or KnightCite to help build your MLA or APA citations