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When Do You Cite Sources? |
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Here are examples of what you NEED to cite.
The examples below show how to cite information from the article at the
bottom of the page. You need to cite
four types of information: quotations,
paraphrases, facts, and specific
ideas.
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Cite all quotations with
quotation marks: “… [T]ropical
forests are home to most terrestrial species of
plants and animals…” (Seeing, 1994, p. 86)
| > Cite author, date, page
number |
| > Show the quote with
quotation marks |
| > Show omitted words with … |
> Place any changes you
make in brackets
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Cite paraphrases (when
you change the wording but use the same basic sentence structure):
Tropical forests are home to most terrestrial plant
and animal species (Seeing, 1994, p. 86) > Cite author, date,
page number
When you use your own
words you don’t need to cite the source, unless it’s a specific fact.
Tropical forests provide shelter from most
terrestrial plant and
animal species (Seeing, 1994, p. 86). > specific fact
Approximately 80,000 square kilometers of tropic
forest are cut down each year (p. 86), showing how fast
deforestation is occurring.
| > Cite specific facts |
> The citation comes after
the fact to separate fact from your analysis
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When you use your own
words and it’s a general idea, you don’t need to cite the source.
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Tropical forests provide shelter for many
plant and animal species. |
Seeing the Forest
Scientific American. September 1994. Volume 255, No. 9
Page 86
A recent report by the World Resources Institute estimates
that 80,000 square kilometers of
tropical forest – an area the size of Maine – are razed each
year. The estimate, as the report acknowledges, is one
among many. The rate at which tropical regions are being
deforested is still vigorously debated because reliable data
are scarce. Governments may understate the problem….
Among the many reasons for being concerned about trees falling
in the Tropics, two deserve special mention.
The first is that tropical forests are
home to most terrestrial species of plants and animals;
deforestation could therefore mean a mass extinction and a
corresponding reduction in the earth’s genetic diversity…. |
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