DOCUMENTING SOURCES

When to Document | Types of Citation | Note Numbers | Parenthetical Notes | Subsequent References | Bibliography

When To Document: How To Avoid Plagiarism  

You must acknowledge whenever you use anyone else's words or ideas by documenting your sources. This applies to any words or ideas that are not your own, whether they come from a published work, a class lecture, or a conversation with a friend or writing tutor. When in doubt, document!  

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Endnotes, Footnotes, or Parenthetical Notes  

References are usually placed in endnotes, on a page at the end of the paper, or in footnotes, at the bottom of each page. Brief references may be placed within the text itself, in parenthesis. The best way to decide what method is appropriate for your paper, besides asking the professor what s/he prefers, is to look to see whether or not the reference interferes with the reading of the text. The reader should be able to focus on what you are saying in the text and refer to your references, not be distracted by them.

To learn about documenting sources in the humanities, social sciences, history, and sciences, visit this site: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/

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Note Numbers  

Notes, footnotes or endnotes, should be numbered consecutively starting with 1. Do not number notes by individual pages or use other symbols. The numbers should be elevated slightly above the line. They should be placed after all punctuation. Place the number after a direct quote or paraphrase. The endnotes page comes immediately before the bibliography and should not be numbered.  

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Parenthetical Notes  

Parenthetical notes are not numbered. They are placed directly in the sentence within the punctuation (Author [last name, first name], article, book title, P. 1).  

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Subsequent References  

Once a source has been identified in a note (footnote, endnote, or parenthetical note), if you use it again, you can use a shortened form. That means that you can simply include the last name of the author and the page number if you are only using one source by that author. If you have two or more sources by the same author, give it a shortened title (Author, Shortened Book Title, p. 1).  

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Bibliography  

The bibliography is the last page of your paper. It contains a list of sources that you used to research and write your paper. If you did not cite any information within your paper from a source (ie. in a footnote, endnote or parenthetical note) it should not be in your bibliography. The bibliography is written in alphabetical order according to the last name of the authors of your sources.  

There are books on reserve in Olin Library and in the Writing Workshop that explain the specific format for documenting sources. Take the time to read through them, photocopying examples to use as models for when you write your own. The best known and most frequently used guide is the MLA Handbook.  

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