Options for Using Sources
• You can refer to the source
• Summarize the source
• Paraphrase the source or a passage from it
• Quote directly from a source
Major Principles to Consider (from Writing With Sources)
1. Use sources as briefly as possible, so your thinking isn’t crowded out by your presentation of other people’s thinking/voices
2. Never leave your reader in doubt as to when you are speaking and when you are using material from another source
3. Always make clear how the source is related to your argument
When to Cite
• When you use factual information or data from a source
• When you quote word for word
• When you summarize, paraphrase or use ideas/opinions or conclusions that another person has already arrived at
When Not to Cite
o You do NOT have to cite information that is considered common knowledge
o You do NOT have to cite when you use ideas that aren’t published such as ideas from friends or classmates
Rules for Quoting
A. Quote only what you really need or what is very striking (powerful)
B. Construct your own sentence so that the quote fits into it.
For example:
Original Quote “When we heard that the man with the white flesh was journeying down the Lualaba we were. . . “
Quote in Sentence According to Chief Mojimba, a “man with white flesh was journeying down the Laulaba.”
C. Quote verbatim (do not change words)
o If the quote is more than 5 lines, indent the entire passage
o If you omit words use the dot dot dot (. . .) to indicate this
o If you need to add a word to make the quote more clear use the brackets [ ]
Parenthetical Citations
When you do quote a source, you can use this format to indicate the source to which you are referring (Author, page #)
For the above example, (Clark, p. 129)
