There a variety of citation styles available for use, including MLA, APA, Chicago, and others. For this course, you'll use the MLA citation style. Below are resources to help you learn how to cite using MLA.
Why do you need to cite the sources you use for your
papers?*
1. Your professors
expect you to read about the research of others, and to bring together their
ideas in such a way that makes sense to you and will make sense to your
readers. Therefore, it's essential for
you to cite your sources in any research paper you write. The academic reasons
for doing so are to give credit to those who have done the original research
and written the article or book, and to allow readers (your professors) to look
at them if needed to find out if you have properly understood what the author
was trying to say.
2. On a practical
level, citing your sources is a way to show that you've done the assignment. If
your paper contains no citations, the implication is that you have done a piece
of original research, but that probably was not the assignment. Citations
(along with the bibliography) show that you have consulted a variety of
resources as the assignment required. They're also an acknowledgement of your
indebtedness to those authors.
3. So you don't feel
you need to hide the fact that you're drawing from one of your sources. That's
what it's all about.
*Adapted from: Taylor, Bill. "A letter to my
students." Academic Integrity Seminar.
29 Feb. 2008