Asourcecitationisaformalacademicmarkerlocatedinaparagraphnearwheretheevidenceorsourcematerialisintroduced.Tobevalid,itmustmatchasourcereference,usuallyattheendofapaper(inthebibliographyorlistofreferences).Together,thesourcecitationandthereferencetellthereaderwhoconductedthepriorresearchorproducedtheknowledge,whenandwhereitwaspublishedorpresented.Importantly,thesemarkersprovidereaderswithamapofthewriter’sscholarship,orknowledge-buildingefforts.Citationstyles/formatsvaryfromprofessiontoprofessionandjournaltojournal.Thetwomostprominentstylesareauthor-date(Greer,2009)andnumbers,eithersuperscript,1,2,8,orparenthetical(1).Writersstructurecitationsbasedonwhattheywanttoemphasize.Forexample,somecitationsfeaturethepublishedauthorprominently;othersfeaturetheinformationmoreprominently.ClickherefordetailsonCitationProminence

AccordingtoacademicwritingscholarsJohnM.SwalesandChristineB.Feak(2004),weciteforavarietyofimportantreasons,allofwhichhelpresearchwritersbuildcredibility,contacts,andknowledge.Thesereasonsinclude:

• Toacknowledgeanotherauthor’sintellectualpropertyrights,actethically,andavoidplagiarism.
• Torespecttheresearchandachievementsofscientistswhohavecomebeforeusandbuildontheirknowledge(acoreprincipleofscholarship).
• Torecognizeaninfluentialthinkeramongourpeers,oracontributortoourarticleorourresearch.
• Togiveourargumentsmorecredibilitybyassociationwithrespected,establishedscience.
• Toprovethatweknowtherulesofscholarlyintegrityandhonorthem,hencecanbetrustedintheacademiccommunity.
• Toshowgapsintheknowledgeandopenupavalidquestionforournewresearch.

Clickheretoreadotherscholars’thoughtsonWhyWeCite.

Reference
Swales,J.M.,Feak,C.B.(2004)AcademicWritingforGraduateStudents:EssentialTasksandSkills:SecondEdition.AnnArbor,MI:UniversityofMichiganPress.

Youusecitationswheneveryouareincludinginformationfromotherpeople’sresearcharticles,lectures,ordata,oryourownpreviouslypublishedresearch.Thisconventiondoesnotmeanthateverythingneedstobecited.Commonknowledge,suchasbare-bonefactsfromthedictionaryorhistory,doesnotneedtobecited.Anexampleofcommonknowledgeisthissentence:In1969,theUnitedStateslandedthefirstmanonthemoon.Muchofthenon-fictionwritingthatyoudoincollege,graduateschool,ortheresearchworld,however,buildsontheworkofotherscholars,whichdoesneedtobecited.Thisincludesoriginalresearch,ideas,language,supportingevidence,statistics,data,methods,tests,techniques,terms,andinterpretations.Inresearchpapers,citationstypicallyaboundinIntroductionandDiscussionsectionsthatreferenceotherscholarship,whiletheyareoftenscarceinMethodsandResultssections,whichfocusonthewriter’snewstudy.Clickheretolearnmoreaboutcommonknowledgeanddownloadaquickstudyguide,EthicsforAuthors.

Youcanfindcitationguidelinesinatleastfourplaces:

• Yourprofessionalassociation–AmericanPsychologyAssociation(APA),ModernLanguageAssociation(MLA),InstituteofElectricalandElectronicsEngineers(IEEE),etc.atanonlinesiteorinapublishedguidebook.
• Thewebsiteofthejournalwhereyouplantopublishwillhaveauthor’sguidelines.
• UAB’sMervynH.SterneLibraryattheonlinelink,CitingYourSources,https://www.mhsl.uab.edu/ref/guides/web/cys.html
• Tip:Youcanquicklylearnthebasicsofcitingfromamodelarticle(writtenorrecommendedbyyouradvisororaprofessor)inapublishedjournal(notnecessarilyanarticlewrittenbyastudent,whichmaynotbeaccurate).Forthefinerpointsofcitationsandformattingforhigh-stakesartifacts(thesesanddissertations),youwillneedtoconsultaguidebookorareferencelibrarianinyourfield.

Asindicated,citationstylesvary,basedonthewriter’sdiscipline,audience,andpurpose.Oneoverridingprinciple,however,remainsconstant.Whenusingoriginalinformationorevidencefromsources,followthe3-StepRule:

• Summarize,paraphrase,ormarkit(withquotesorblockindentations).Note:Quotations,ormarkedexcerpts,arecommoninthearts,humanities,andsocialsciences,butveryrareinthelabsciences,technology,math,orengineeringfields.
• Citethesource(s)inthesameparagraph.
• Citethesource(s)againinyourlistofReferencesorBibliography.

Clickhereforexamples usingthe3-StepRule.

Whenindoubt,askyourprofessor,advisor,orareferencelibrarian.Itisalwayswisertoaskforhelpinadvancethantoignoreaquestion,turninapaperandbesuspectedofplagiarism.UAB’sMervynH.SterneLibraryoffersgrouporpersonalcitationclinics.Foranappointment,call934-6364orvisitthewebsiteatwww.mhsl.uab.edu.

Thisisacommonquestion,anditreflectsahiddenprobleminresearchwritingtoday:Citationinflation.Asareader,yourelyontheauthorofthearticleyouarereadingtoprovidethemostaccurateinterpretationofthepublishedliterature.Yetiftheauthorhasnotactuallyreadallofthesourcesheorshecites,hemayinadvertentlymisleadyouonimportantpoints.So,theanswertoyourquestionis“yes,but…”Alwayscitethesourcethatyouactuallyread.Ifyouhavenotreadtheoriginalsource,youmustcitethereviewarticleasasecondarysource.Followyourcitationguidelinesforformattingasecondarycitation.InAPAstyle,forexample,asecondarycitationforGreermightlooklikethis:(Greer,ascitedinAustin,2010).Collegeprofessorspreferprimarycitationstosecondarycitationsbecausetheyknowthatyoulearnmorewhenyoureadtheoriginalsource.Ifyourprofessorstipulates“primarysourcesonly”andyoucannotreadtheoriginalwork,youarebetteroffomittingtheinformationandthesourcethaninflatingyourknowledgeofit.Inshort,itisintellectualydishonesttociteasourcethatyouhavenotreadasaprimarycitation.Note:Thisnormchangeswithcontext,however.Journaleditorswelcomesomesecondarycitationsofreviewarticles(especiallythoseintheirownjournals)tostreamlinethereferencelistsforreaders(and,perhapsnotcoincidentally,toincreasetheircitationindices.)