Cite Your Sources

We cite sources for several reasons:

• to impress our teachers by showing the awesome research we've done
• to prove that we haven't just made stuff up (like facts or statistics)
• to prove our opinions or ideas are awesome (who will disagree with you if your information is published by NASA?)
• to give credit to the authors you may have borrowed ideas or words from
• to PROTECT yourself from accusations of plagiarism!
• to help readers who want to know more find your sources

It's also just what people in schools and universities do to show they are using information ethically. When you get your driver's license, you will follow the rules, right? You will agree not to run a red light. Well, when you are a student, this is just what you do. It's part of the rules. 

DO:

• Keep track of your sources as you go along
• Add links and titles to a Word doc
• Create a folder in your browser and bookmark useful websites 
• Use NoodleTools to create citations and SAVE YOUR WORK!
• Use MLA consistently (make all your citations looks the same)
• Export a Bibliography to MS Word (let NoodleTools do the formatting for you!)

DON'T:

• List a URL as a citation. URLs change all the time. Your reader might not be able to find it.
• Create citations on your own. There is too much room for error.
• Copy and paste citations one-at-a-time. You will lose consistency!