Library Research Tutorials and Guides

Why is Citing Sources Important?

• It gives credit to ideas that are not your own.
• It provides support to your argument.
• It allows readers to find the sources you used.
• It follows the University of Hawaii Systemwide Student Conduct Code, which states that "Plagiarism is also an act of academic dishonesty and includes, but is not limited to, the use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgement."

What Should Be Cited?

• Exact wording from any source should be in quotes and cited.
• Paraphrases of sentences/paragraphs/passages should be cited.
• Use of another's works (even your own previous work done for another class) should be cited.

What Citation Style Should be Used?

Ask your instructor for the style preferred for the course. Usually, different disciplines use specific citation styles:

• MLA (Modern Language Association) is used in the humanities, arts, and literature.
• APA (American Psychological Association) is used in psychology and other social sciences.
• Chicago and/or Turabian are used in history, humanities, sciences, and social sciences.

Plagiarism is presenting the words or ideas of others as your own without acknowledging the source. If you don't acknowledge or cite the author, you are committing a form of theft, called plagiarism. The following 2 tutorials and 2 videos will help you learn how to avoid committing this academic crime.

This video from Films on Demand describes in detail how you can avoid academic plagiarism.

Plagiarism 2.0: Information Ethics in the Digital Age

Additional Resources