Citing Your Sources

Whenever you use somebody else's ideas in your research paper you must cite your sources by:

You must cite your sources when...

Quoting any words that are not your own.
Quoting means to repeat another source word for word, using quotation marks "".
Summarizing facts and ideas from a source.
Summarizing means to take the key ideas from another source and shorten them, using your own words. For more about summarizing, visit How to Summarize.
Paraphrasing a source.
Paraphrasing means to put somebody else's ideas into your own words. For more about how to paraphrase a source visit Paraphrase: Write it in Your Words.
When using factual information that is not common knowledge.

Common Knowledge

Common knowledge is information that appears in more than 5 sources.

Examples of information that is "common knowledge":

General Custer lost the battle at Little Big Horn.

Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States, was born in 1804 and died in 1869.

If in doubt, cite your source!