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Communication Studies 301 - Introduction to Public Speaking (Chochezi)

Why Cite Sources?

Cite Sources

Whenever you quote or base your ideas on another person's work, you must acknowledge the source you used. Even when you do not quote directly from another work, if reading that source contributes to the ideas presented in your paper, you must give the author(s) proper credit. If you don't, you are committing plagiarism.

Citations allow you to:

  • give credit to authors for their ideas.
  • show the depth and scope of your research.
  • provide a road map of your research so that others can locate and explore the sources you consulted.
  • avoid committing plagiarism.

Citations provide:

  • evidence or support for your arguments.
  • credibility to your work by demonstrating that you have sought out and considered a variety of resources.

In written academic work, responding to and commenting on the work of scholars shows you've done your research. Adding something of your own shows your critical thinking and understanding of the topic. 

FLC's Citation Style Guides

CQ Research Cite Now Button

Your results in CQ Researcher offer citations also.

  1. Click Cite Now
  2. Click MLA
  3. Copy and Paste into your Works Cited Page

EBSCO Databases Cite Button

For research databases provided by the company EBSCO, use the tool menu's Cite Button. Sometimes it will include both the Piece of Paper icon and the word Cite (Like we see below), but sometimes it will just be the Piece of Paper icon. When you click the icon a pop up will appear with many citations styles. Scroll down to MLA.

Copy and paste the MLA citation in your document.  

You can also choose the citation format when you email an article to yourself.

Double-check the citation for accuracy using the Citation Style Guides.

Cite OneSearch