Learn to Research

What is Citation?

Citation enables you to show that you took words, ideas, or images from somewhere else and used them in your own work. It allows you to give credit to sources used and to distinguish your ideas from the ideas of others. 

Citations appear throughout a written work and (in a longer form) in a list of references.

A reference includes the following information:

• Name of the author(s)
• Title of work
• Where the work is published (ex. name and location of company, website URL, etc.)
• The date of publication
• Page numbers

The order in which this information occurs in your citation is called style. Your instructor will tell you to use either APA or MLA Style.

Citation Resources

What is Plagiarism?

According to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, plagiarism is "the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own."

Plagiarism occurs when you borrow another's words without giving credit. Published words, ideas, and other forms of expression are considered the intellectual property of the creator. Borrowing words and ideas without giving proper credit is a serious offense that can lead to serious consequences. Plagiarism violates NorQuest College's policy and is considered to be academic misconduct and can result in failure or more serious penalties. 

Learn more about plagiarism:

Avoiding Plagiarism

The best way to avoid plagiarism is to cite your sources in the body of your work and in your bibliography or reference list. Avoid plagiarism by:

• learning how to document and cite your sources properly.
• handing in your own work.
• paraphrasing, or putting the ideas of others into your own words and using a citation.
• using quotation marks and an in-text citation when you copy the words of someone else.
• always giving credit to sources you use in your research.

Learn more about avoiding plagiarism:

The following websites show examples of correct paraphrasing.