Citing Sources

Or, Scholarship as Conversation

Cite properly to …

… acknowledge your debt to scholars who have come before you.

Cite properly to …

… promote history scholarship by conversing about sources, methods, issues and topics.

Cite properly to …

… help the reader distinguish your ideas and conclusions from ones that are not yours.

Cite properly to …

… give the reader a trail to follow to check the accuracy of your quotations, and the totality of the sources you used to develop your thesis.

Cite properly to …

… avoid plagiarism*.

Plagiarism is a form of dishonesty

in academic work, whether done

inadvertently or consciously.

(It’s in the Knox Honor Code!)

*Plagiarism is the act of using someone else’s ideas, concepts, words, images, music, etc. as if they were your own, without giving proper credit; it is intellectual theft.

What to cite

• Direct quotations

• Ideas and concepts of others that you paraphrase

• Images, music notation, etc: All other intellectual property that isn’t yours!

What not to cite

Commonly accepted facts. Examples:

• President James Garfield was assassinated by Charles Guiteau in 1881.

• Knox College was founded in 1837.

• John Brown was an abolitionist.

For more about citing sources:• Jules R. Benjamin. A Student’s Guide to History, 10th ed. (p. 115-18,

127-31). REF D16.3 B4 2007

• Anthony Brundage. Going to the Sources: A Guide to Historical Research and Writing, 3rd ed. (p. 80-83). REF D16 .B893 2002

• Conal Furay and Michael Salevouris. The Methods and Skills of History: A Practical Guide (p. 193-97). On Reserve D21 .F947 2000

• Richard Marius and Melvin E. Page. A Short Guide to Writing About History (p. 175-82). Main Stacks D13 .M294 2002

• Mary Lynn Rampolla. A Pocket Guide to Writing in History, 4th ed. (p. 70-84). Main Stacks D13 .R295 2004

Thank You!

Laurie Sauer

lsauer@knox.edu

X7788

Acknowledgement: Images, except for the image of Old Main, are from the HarpWeek (Harper’s Weekly) database.