Citing Sources: Principles and ExamplesRichard N. L. AndrewsUpdated August 2008It is very important that you develop good habits of documenting the sources of both factual statements and the ideas, opinions, and arguments of other people that you use in any paper you write. One basic reason for this is to be able to support the statements you make and the facts you use if someone else should challenge or disagree with them. A second is to distinguish clearly between someone else’s ideas and arguments and your own, and not confuse the two. And a third is to protect your own integrity against either deliberate or accidental representation of someone else’s ideas or work as your own, which if intentional is known as plagiarism and is a serious violation of the UNC Honor Code and of the standards of ethical writing.Here are a few key recommendations:1.When you take notes on readings, either (1) take direct quotations (usingquotation marks, even in your notes) and a full, exact citation with it at the sametime (i ncluding page number, so that you don’t have to go back and find it again), or (2) write your notes in sentences beginning, “Jones argues that…” or “Smithsays that…” (and again, take an exact citation for future reference). Do not justcut and paste without including quotation marks and a citation, and do not writeout directly copied or closely paraphrased material without including a citation of where it was from – both these practices may lead you later to misremember orrationalize what was your own w riting versus what was the original author’s.2.When you use other authors’ materials in your paper, always use it in the formsdiscussed above, and always cite it (e.e. Andrews, 2003: 2). This also has thebenefit of setting up the other author’s point for you to interpret or critique usingdifferent facts or your own counter-arguments, clearly showing your own ideas as different (“Adams argues that …, on the basis that …. In the case we are presently discussing, however, I believe a different interpretatio n is more persuasive [or, “In this case, however, the facts seem to lead to a different conclusion….”] Forexample, ….”).3.Citations can be done in any of several different ways in different fields andpublications. Unless there is a good reason to do otherwise, I encourage studentsto use the “Author, date: page” citation system (e.g. Andrews et al., 2003: 26).This is the simplest and most efficient way to do it, and it allows you to relateyour references to a single alphabetical reference list or bibliography, avoidcomplicated footnoting (id., ibid., op. cit., etc.), and use footnotes only for moredetailed explanation or interesting side-issues on a particular point in the text ofthe paper.4.Materials cited from on-line sources must include (1) the author and title of theactual document found, and the exact Internet URL where it is located (not justthe search engine page, or the main home page of the site on which you found it);(2) the actual date of its publication, if given; (3) any additional informationavailable about the actual original date of publication and publisher; and (4) thedate on which you accessed the web page (since Internet sites can change overtime, and documents be moved around). If something you find on the Internetcannot be identified in this way, it should be used only as the opinion or positionof the group that runs that site (and should be cited accordingly), or as anunreliable source of information.5.Particularly when using materials from Internet sites, be a critical reader, and docareful checking yourself to determine both the quality of the evidence andreasoning of the paper itself, and what sort of organization is providing thisinformation. Many are ideologically-oriented advocacy groups, even thoughlabeled as “n on-partisan research organizations” or “foundations” or “institutes”;some are deliberately misleading, seeking to persuade you of their credibility orneutrality when they are in fact covertly “fronting for” a different point of view(this is true for example of some groups attacking environmental policies). Check the group’s mission statement and other subsidiary pages about it and about itsagenda; check what kinds of other sites it links you to; check the names of keyindividuals associated with the sit e (you can “Google” them to see what they’vewritten or who else they’re affiliated with); check even the webmaster’s or“contact us” email address to see if it takes you to some other underlying group’s web site. Then read the articles themselves skeptically, as you should anythingelse, with careful attention to evidence and reasoning; and always be aware thatthere may be at least one differing point of view, and look carefully to see whichone you think is most persuasive. For an excellent guide to evaluating evidence in printed sources, which is also a very good starting point on the same issues inInternet sources, see /depts/wcweb/handouts/evidence.html.6.For a very good handout providing additional detail on proper citation,plagiarism, and how to use other authors’ materials properly, see/depts/wcweb/handouts/plagiarism.html (accessed August 22, 2008). Please read it, and print it or download it to your own computer forfuture reference. For excellent handouts on many other aspects of good writingpractices, see /depts/wcweb/handouts/ (accessed August 22,2008).Here are some examples of how to accurately cite several kinds of materials: a book, a book chapter, a journal or magazine article, a newspaper article, a government report, and a report on the Internet:Andrews, Richard N. L. 1999. Managing the Environment,. Managing Ourselves: A History of American Environmental Policy. New Haven: Yale University Press. 416 pp. [Cite in paper as Andrews, 1999: pp.]Applebaum, Richard P., and Gary Gereffi. 1994. Power and Profits in the Apparel Commodity Chain. Chapter 3 in Global Production: The Apparel Industry in thePacific Rim, edited by Edna Bonacich et al. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, pp. 42-62. [cite in paper as Applebaum and Gereffi, 1994: pp.]Darnall, Nicole; Gallagher, Deborah R.; Andrews, R. N. L.; and Deborah Amaral. 2000.Environmental Management Systems: Opportunities for Improved Environmental and Business Strategy? Environmental Quality Management 9(3): 1-9. [This means Volume 9, Number 3, pages 1-9. Cite in paper as Darnall et al., 2000: pp.]Rives, Karen. 2002. The High Price of Free Trade: No End in Sight to N.C. Job Losses.Raleigh News & Observer, August 18, 2002, p. 1A. [Note that while this is anewspaper article found on line, the proper citation is to the author of the article and the actual date of its publication, and the page number if available, not just to the web site or search engine].U. S. Congress. House Committees on Agriculture and on Foreign Affairs. 1990. Review of U.S. International Food Assistance Programs. Joint hearing, November 1, 1989, Serial no. 101-32. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. [This showsproper citation for a government document – in this case a Congressional hearing –showing how to cite the report of a specific committee of the Congress, or of aspecific office or bureau within a larger government agency. If available on theInternet, you would also add the Internet citation using the style below, being sure to use an actual Internet page URL and not simply a search-engine character string.] Connor, Timothy. 2002. We Are Not Machines: Indonesian Nike and Adidas Workers.Ottawa, Canada & Victoria, Australia: Oxfam. On line at/campaigns/nike/pdf/Wearenotmachines.pdf,accessed September 24, 2002. [Note that this is a good example of a paper actually written by one individual and published by one organization, but posted on line on another group’s web site. Be sure to identify the original author and publisher ifidentifiable. Also be sure you are getting an actual URL web address for this specific document, not simply a “frame” citing only the organization’s m ain home page].。
