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BIO 210: Adopt-a-Microbe

Links to tutorials and library resources supporting the Bio 210 Adopt-A-Microbe assignment.

Citing your Sources

Citations consist of standard elements, and contain all the information necessary to identify and track down publications, including:

  • author name(s)
  • titles of books, articles, and journals
  • date of publication
  • page numbers
  • volume and issue numbers (for articles)

It doesn't matter where you get the information you are using- When in doubt cite it:

  • Direct Quotes
  • Paraphrases (rephrased or summarized material)
  • Ideas from another work
  • Graphs, diagrams, drawings

You do not need to cite:

  • Proverbs, sayings example
  • Common knowledge or facts*

*Widely-known, generally-accepted information that is not attributable to one source.

It's important to cite sources you used in your research for several reasons:

  • To support your research and give your work a factual basis
  • To be a responsible scholar by giving credit to other researchers and acknowledging their ideas
  • To avoid plagiarism by quoting words and ideas used by other authors
  • To provide your reader all of the information needed to track down the sources you used

Citations may look different, depending on what is being cited and which style was used to create them.  The citation style usually depends on the academic discipline involved.

APA Citation Style Guide

Resources