MCS 303: Geometry: Citing Your Sources

There are at least three reasons why writers cite their sources:

• To establish credibility with readers by calling on solid, reputable sources as "expert witnesses"
• To provide readers with the information they need to delve further into the topic
• To give credit where it's due and avoid plagiarism

When you are preparing a document,use this checklist to be sure your citations are complete.

• Did I provide a reference for every idea that came from a source? Cite all of your sources, even if you put the information in your own words. You do not have to cite sources for "common knowledge" - factual information that can be found in multiple sources such as dates or widely-known information.
• Do all of my in-text references have a complete citation in my list of sources and can the reader easily move from an in-text reference to the full citation in the list?
• Does my reader have all the information needed to find each source? 

Because scholars in different disciplines emphasize different things when they read citations, there are many different styles. The MLA style, used for literary studies, makes sure page numbers are provided in an in-text citaiton because the exactness of a quotation matters; the APA style used in psychology and other social sciences include the year of publication, because when research was conducted is considered particularly significant. The Chicago Style is used by disciplines such as history and religion, which value sources so much it's common to put all the information about a source in a footnote as well as in a bibliography at the end of a paper.

Whatever style you use, citations typically include author, title of the work, and publication informaiton (for books, publisher and year published; for articles, the journal, volume, date, and page numbers; for websites, a URL is needed).

Gustavus Library Resources:

• Building Citations Worksheet - use this sheet to help you identify key pieces of information you'll need to build citations in any style. You can also refer to Source Types from the Doing Research guide.
• APA Cheat Sheet (PDF)

External Resources:

• Excelsior Online Writing Lab (OWL) (7th ed.)
• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) (7th ed.) 
• Sample APA paper (Purdue OWL) (7th ed.)
• How to cite ChatGPT - from the APA Style blog

Gustavus Library Resources:

• Building Citations Worksheet - use this sheet to help you identify key pieces of information you'll need to build citations in any style. You can also refer to Source Types from the Doing Research guide.
• Chicago Cheat Sheet - Notes/Bibliography style - contains examples for citing a variety of academic sources (PDF)
• Chicago Cheat Sheet - Author Date style - contains examples for citing a variety of academic sources (PDF)

External Resources:

• Excelsior Online Writing Lab (OWL) (17th ed.)
• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) (17th ed.) 
• Sample Chicago paper (Notes and Bibliography) (Purdue OWL) (17th ed.)
• Sample Chicago paper (Author and Date) (Purdue OWL) (17th ed.)

Gustavus Library Resources:

• Building Citations Worksheet - use this sheet to help you identify key pieces of information you'll need to build citations in any style. You can also refer to Source Types from the Doing Research guide.
• MLA Cheat Sheet (PDF)

• Excelsior Online Writing Lab (OWL) (9th ed.)
• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) (9th ed.) 
• Sample MLA paper (Purdue OWL) (9th ed.)
• How do I cite generative AI in MLA style? - from MLA Style Center

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