Phil Druker/Department of English/ University of Idaho

 
When Do You Cite Sources?

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.
 

  1. 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
     
     

  2. 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
     

  3. 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
     
     

  4. When you use your own words and it’s a general idea, you don’t need to cite the source.
    bullet

    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….