Citation Help - RHW 102 Dr. Jim Watkins - First-Year Seminar in Writing

A Working Definition

A citation is essentially a reference to a source of information -- a book, an article, a webpage, or any other resource, physical or virtual. As such, it is a kind of avatar -- a summary, descriptive stand-in for the object itself.

The purpose of a citation or reference is two-fold. In the first instance, it is an attribution or recognition of the contributions of another researcher, commentator, or author to the work at hand. In the second instance, it is a pathway or, perhaps, a signpost leading others to that contributory source.

Avoiding Plagiarism: Tutorials

ProQuest Research Companion
Quick - 15 minutes - learning module "How Do I Avoid Plagiarism & Find My Own Voice?" ProQuest Research Companion allows you to set up an account and use a wide selection of learning modules about finding, evaluating & using information.
Cornell University's Tutorial on Recognizing and Avoiding Plagiarism
The logistics section of this tutorial (required for all Cornell students) addresses how to document sources and avoid plagiarism. You then go on to a series of exercises to test your understanding of how to use and cite sources correctly. If one of your instructors has asked you to complete this tutorial as part of a class assignment, you will be able to send the results of your exercises to a designated e-mail address.

Websites on MLA

Websites on MLA Style

MLA Style Center
The MLA Style Center is a free companion to the MLA Handbook. The only official Web site devoted to MLA style, it provides the opportunity to submit your own questions, sample research papers, instructions on formatting research papers, teaching resources & tools for creating works-cited-list entries.
Purdue OWL MLA Formatting and Style Guide
MLA Citation Style
Concordia University Library

What is Zotero?

Zotero (pronounced "zoh-TAIR-oh") is a free and open source citation management tool that collects, manages, and cites research sources by analysing the content in your web browser, and saving it to your personal library with a single click. It's easy to use, works on almost any website, and best of all it's free! It allows you to:

attach PDFs, notes & images to your citations
organize references into collections for different projects
work with over 9,000 citation styles, including MLA, APA, Chicago, and more
automatically update to work with new online sources and bibliographic styles
index the full-text content of your library, enabling you to find exactly what you're looking for with just a few keystrokes.

Zotero Standalone and Zotero Connector (for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera)

Zotero Standalone is a separate, browser-independent application. Because Zotero Standalone lives outside your browser, it lacks some advanced features. To realize the full capability of Zotero Standalone, you must also install a Zotero Connector, available for Chrome, Safari, and Opera.

Citation Styles

Zotero comes with several popular citation styles for creating citations and bibliographies, and over 9,000 additional styles can be added by clicking "Edit" and "Preferences". Then, under the "Cite" tab, you can select "Get additional styles...".

Then you can select from over 9,000 styles or search for a specific style.