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RELS 223 Church & State: US Perspective: Citation Styles and Avoiding Plagiarism

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Citations and Avoiding Plagiarism

There are a few reasons why making sure you properly cite all of your sources is imperative, especially when presenting research:

1. Accurate citations will allow your readers to find the sources you used and read them for themselves. 

 -Allows for "citation-chaining", which encourages readers to use your citations to find more information on the topic

2. Citing sources will emphasize the work you've done.

-By citing sources that strengthen your position, you are also highlighting the independent ideas you have created

3. The citation of sources helps you to avoid plagarizing someone else's work

-Plagarism is defined as "the passing of someone else's ideas as your own".  Citing the resources you used makes sure you give credit to the original author.

-If you have questions about what needs to be cited, Plagiarism.org offers some great examples of instances in which you should cite a source. 

 

Citation Styles

Though it is best to consult the your style guide when writing your papers and building your citations, citation “cheat sheets” are provided by the library to help you format your your in-text and reference list citations. If the citation style you're using doesn't appear below, there are other citation styles available on the library's website.

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