Criminal Justice - Research Methods: Documenting Sources

Why do we "Document" or "Cite" sources?

Whenever you base your ideas on another person's work or quote someone, you must document the source you utilized. Even when you do not quote directly from someone elses' work, if reading that source contributed to the ideas presented in your paper, you must give the proper credit to the author.

A properly formatted works cited or references page:

• Shows readers the sources you consulted 
• Gives credit to the authors for their ideas 
• Demonstrates that you have researched a variety of sources 

By following these guidelines included in the resource below, you avoid plagiarism.

Plagiarism is the act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of the author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author.

Follow the link below, to learn more about MLA & APA citation guide lines and other tools to help you document.

Documenting Resources (Citations)

General guidelines:

• Sentence case capitalization in article titles. (Only first word & proper names capitalized)
• Title of journal is italicized & each word is capitalized
  (Also italicize the volume number)
• Include doi (digital object identifier) if available
• If doi is not available, include the URL (web address) for the home page
• Double-check all citations to make sure they are correctly formatted

The following guides, developed by Easybib.com, will guide you through citing resources in APA 7 style. Visit Easybib.com to try their automatic citation generator.