Citing Sources & Plagiarism

When you do any type of scholarly research, it is important to cite your sources of information in the form of in-text notes, footnotes, or endnotes, as well as a bibliography or works cited page. In doing so, you are giving credit to the original authors, and demonstrating the fact that you have done legitimate research.

Failure to give credit when using someone's intellectual property is plagiarism.  According to PCCC's Academic Integrity Policy, sanctions for plagiarism may include a reduced grade for the assignment or course, academic probation, suspension, or even expulsion, depending on the nature and severity of the violation.

The preferred style of citation for most academic departments at PCCC is MLA style. Another acceptable style of citation is APA style. The sites listed below give specific examples of citation for each style. When you are citing your information, be sure to use the correct format for the type of resource you are citing (books, periodicals, electronic media, etc.).

Also see:
- Avoiding Plagiarism (Purdue Online Writing Lab) 
- Create an MLA Works Cited Page (Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison)
- MLA Style Guide (Univ. of Southern Miss.)
- APA Style Guide (Univ. of Southern Miss.)
- Citation Machine (interactive tool for creating citations)
- NoodleTools (interactive tools to aid students with online research)
- Plagiarism Tutorial (Indiana St. Univ.)
- "You Quote It, You Note It!" (Acadia Univ.)