Pacific Northwest History
Understanding Citations
Why Cite?
Why Cite? It's a good question. Citation is of course socially constructed, and heavily influenced by European scholarly traditions. While pinpointing the very first practices of referencing sources might require some lengthy research on our part, citation as we recognize it in our classes seems to have originated in the mid-1880s but it wasn't new; it was a spin based on an already long-established, if messy, academic referencing practice.*
While the styles, principles and practices of citation might vary, academic citation is now well-established, and expected, in colleges and universities world wide.
Here are four reasons to cite in the American academic tradition:
- By crediting who and what helped shape your own thoughts and ideas, it shows that you are an ethical user and producer of information.
- It shows that you have read and understood what others have discovered or think about the topic you have chosen to write about.
- In the scholarly/academic world, citation contributes to the credibility and reputation of an author; it demonstrates to others in their field that they are aware of the scope of work that has already been done related to their research.
- It is a service to your readers so that they can locate your sources too.
- Citation is an important part of avoiding plagiarism which is considered a serious academic integrity violation in American colleges and universities.
Image: "Old Book-Basking Ridge Historical Society" by William Hoiles, is licensed under CC BY 2.0
- *What may be a true account of the first instance of a modern citation method.Chernin, E. (1988). The "Harvard system": A mystery dispelled. British Medical Journal, 297.
MLA Style Handouts
Here are some handouts (in both .docx and .pdf formats) featuring examples of citations for sources you might find through TCC's Library and the Web. This first handout is for the full works cited page.
Works Cited
- MLA style works cited guide (8th ed.) 2018 [doc]This double-sided .doc handout provides some example citations for commonly used sources.
- MLA style works cited guide (8th ed.) 2018 [pdf]This double-sided .pdf handout provides some example citations for commonly used sources.
In-Text Citations
- MLA style in-text citations guide (8th ed.) 2018 [doc]This double-sided .dochandout provides some example in-text citations for commonly used sources.
- MLA style in-text citations guide (8th ed.) 2018 [pdf]This double-sided .pdf handout provides some example in-text citations for commonly used sources.
Citing Social Media
- MLA style social media citations (9th ed.) 2021 [.docx]This double-sided .docx handout provides some example Works Cited section citations for social media content.
- MLA style social media citations (9th ed.) 2021 [.pdf]This double-sided .pdf handout provides some example Works Cited section citations for social media content.
APA Style Handouts
Here are some handouts (in both .docx and .pdf formats) featuring examples citations for sources you might find through TCC's Library and the Web.
References
- APA style References guide (7th ed.) 2020 [.pdf]This double-sided .pdf handout provides some example References page citations for commonly used sources.
- APA style References guide (7th ed.) 2020 [.docx]This double-sided .docx handout provides some example References page citations for commonly used sources.
In-Text Citations
- APA style in-text citations guide (7th ed.) 2020 [.pdf]This double-sided .pdf handout provides some example in-text citations for commonly used sources.
- APA style in-text citations guide (7th ed.) 2020 [.docx]This double-sided .docx handout provides some example in-text citations for commonly used sources.
- TCC Library's APA guideIn this guide you will also find an extensive list and description of the changes, from APA 6 to APA 7, that are most relevant to TCC students.
Citing Social Media
- APA style social media citations (7th ed.) [.pdf]This double-sided .pdf handout provides some example References page citations for social media content.
- APA style social media citations (7th ed.) [.docx]This double-sided .docx handout provides some example References page citations for social media content.
Purdue OWL Guides: MLA 9th Ed.
- The Purdue OWL: MLA Style Citation GuideThis resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook (8th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.
- The Purdue OWL: APA 7 style citation guideUse the navigation on the left to find examples of in-text and reference list citations. Also contains a sample paper demonstrating in-text citations and paper layout .
- The Purdue OWL APA 7 changesThe OWL goes over some of of the changes from APA 6 to APA 7
- The Purdue OWL APA 7 overview and workshopThis workshop introduces important aspects of the American Psychological Association (APA) Style used to format research papers.
Except where otherwise noted, the content in these guides by Tacoma Community College Library is licensed under CC BY SA 4.0.
This openly licensed content allows others to cite, share, or modify this content, with credit to TCC Library. When reusing or adapting this content, include this statement in the new document: This content was originally created by Tacoma Community College Library and shared with a CC BY SA 4.0 license.
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