HU 3900: Inquiry Seminar - Business in Post-Socialist World: Citations

Documenting Sources

Research papers, Qualifying Projects, and other writing that incorporates information or ideas from sources must include suitable documentation of the sources.

By documenting your sources you:

• Demonstrate to your reader how your own ideas stem from, differ from, or relate to those in your sources
• distinguish your ideas from the ideas of others and give credit to others for their ideas (avoid plagiarism)
• Lend credibility to your own work by citing credible sources
• Assist your reader, who will want to be able to find the sources that you used
• Share intellectual activity honestly and properly

Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is using the words information ideas of another without properly documenting them. The WPI Academic Honesty Policy clearly specifies that plagiarism, the misrepresentation of the work of another as your own, is an act of academic dishonesty. It is also academically dishonest to allow another person to copy your work and present it as his/her own work. Cases of deliberate plagiarism can result in loss of credit for the assignment or the course project during which the plagiarism is committed. A serious act of plagiarism can result in the student's suspension from WPI.

Students will avoid plagiarism by learning to use and cite sources correctly.

You must provide a ciation when:

• Quoting directly from a source (copying the words of another)
• Paraphrasing ideas or information from a source (rewriting a passage in your own words)
• Incorporating into your paper information or ideas that are not general knowledge

Citations at the end of your paper should always tell you:

• Who wrote the source material? Who is the author, editor, artist, or organization behind the work?
• What is it called? What is the title of the book, article, website, photograph, etc.?
• When was the source was published? What is the date of publication?
• Where  and by whom was it published? This will vary from source to source. For a book - who is the publisher; what city was it published in? For a website, what is the URL? For a journal article, what journal is it in; what is the DOI? 

Citation styles vary in how they present this information, but generally, these elements are always included.