Citation Basics
Made by: Ahmed Essam
Plagiarism
• using someone else’s work without giving them proper credit.
• In academic writing, plagiarizing involves using words, ideas, or
information from a source without citing it correctly.
Copying parts of a text word for word, without It makes it seem like these are your own words.
quotation marks
Paraphrasing a text by changing a few words or It makes it seem like you came up with the idea,
altering the sentence structure, without citing the when in fact you just rephrased someone else’s
source idea.
Giving incorrect information about a source If readers can’t find the cited source, they can’t
check the information themselves.
Quoting so much from a source that it makes up Even with proper citations, you’re not making an
the majority of your text original contribution if you rely so much on
someone else’s words.
Reusing work you’ve submitted for a previous Even though it’s your own work, the reader should
assignment, without citing yourself be informed that it’s not completely new but
comes from previous research.
Submitting a text written entirely by someone else Not doing the work yourself is academically
(e.g., a paper you bought from a ghostwriter) dishonest, undermines your learning, and is unfair
to other students.
Types of sources
• The sources commonly used in academic writing include:
• Academic journals
• Scholarly books
• Websites
• Newspapers
• Conference proceedings
Conference proceedings is a collection of academic papers
published in the context of an academic conference or workshop.
• Government Documents
Journals
• A scholarly publication contains articles written by experts in a
particular field.
• These articles generally report on original research or case
studies.
• Many of these publications are "peer reviewed" or "refereed". This
means that scholars in the same field review the research and
findings before the article is published.
• Articles in scholarly publications, in most cases:
➢are written by and for faculty, researchers, or other experts in a field
➢use scholarly or technical language
➢include a full bibliography of sources cited in the article
➢are peer reviewed (refereed)
Title
Authors
Abstract
Introduction
Publications
Why do you need to cite sources
• To avoid plagiarism by indicating when you’re taking information
from another source
• To give proper credit to the author of that source
• To allow the reader to consult your sources for themselves
In most styles, your citations consist of:
• In-text citations at the relevant points in the text
• A reference list containing full information on all the sources
you’ve cited
In-text citations
• Contains:
➢last name of the source’s author
➢Its year of publication Evolution is a gradual process that “can act only by very short
➢Page (if available) and slow steps” (Darwin, 1859, p. 510).
The in-text citation can take two forms:
➢ parenthetical
Parenthetical citation: According to new research … (Ahmed, 2020).
➢ narrative.
Narrative citation: Ahmed (2020) notes that …
Parenthetical Narrative
Author type
citation citation
One author (Ahmed, 2020) Ahmed (2020)
Two authors (Ahmed & Omar, Ahmed and Omar
2020) (2020)
Three or more (Ahmed et al., 2020) Ahmed et al. (2020)
authors
Organization (EPA, 2020) EPA (2020)
Missing Parenthetical
element What to do citation
Author Use the source title. (Source Title, 2020)
Date Write “n.d.” for “no date”. (Ahmed, n.d.)
Page number Either use an alternative (Ahmed, 2020, Chapter 3)
locator or or
omit the page number. (Smith, 2020)
References list
• On the reference page, you list all the sources that you’ve cited
throughout your paper.
• Place the page right after the main body and before any
appendices.
• On the first line of the page, write the section label “References”
(in bold and centered).
• On the second line, start listing your references in alphabetical
order.
• Apply these formatting guidelines to the APA reference page:
➢Double spacing (within and between references)
➢Hanging indent of ½ inch
➢Legible font (e.g. Times New Roman 12)
Book
Author Name. (date of publication). Title of book. (edition).
Publisher. URL or DOI.
E.g.: Smith, T. (2020). The citation manual for students: A quick guide
(2nd ed.). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1000/182
Book Chapter
Author Name. (date of publication). Chapter name in Title of book.
(edition). Publisher. URL or DOI.
Website
Author Name. (date of publication). Title of webpage. Website
name. URL.
Slat, B. (2019, April 10). Whales likely impacted by Great Pacific
garbage patch. The Ocean Cleanup.
https://www.theoceancleanup.com/updates/whales-likely-impacted-by-
great-pacific-garbage-patch/
Journal Article
• Author Name. (date of publication). Title of work. Journal name.
volume number(Issue Number). Page range. DOI.
Andreff, W. (2000). The evolving European model of professional
sports finance. Journal of Sports Economics, 1(3), 257–276.
https://doi.org/10.1177/152700250000100304
Conference Proceeding
• Rudawska, A. (2020). Knowledge sharing and creativity: Individual
and organizational perspective. In Contemporary challenges in
cooperation and coopetition in the age of industry 4.0: 10th
Conference on Management of Organizations' Development
(MOD) (pp.107-121). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-
30549-9_5
Missing element What to do Reference format
Author Start the reference Org. (Date). Title.
entry with the Source.
Organization name.
Author and Start the reference Title. (Date). Source.
Organization name entry with the source
title.
Date Write “n.d.” for “no Author. (n.d.). Title.
date”. Source.
Title Describe the work in Author. (Date).
square brackets. [Description].
Source.
Tricking
• Using Citation Machines
• Preferred: Scribbr machine
https://www.scribbr.com/citation/generator/
