There are several citation styles to choose from. APA, MLA or Chicago Style Guide are the most common; however, each discipline (and professor) has a preferred style so it is best to confirm the style expected for your class.
APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences. This resource, revised according to the 6th edition, second printing of the APA manual, offers examples for the general format of APA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the reference page. For more information, please consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (6th ed., 2nd printing).
MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook (8th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.
The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) covers a variety of topics from manuscript preparation and publication to grammar, usage, and documentation and has been lovingly called the “editors’ bible.” The material in this resource focuses primarily on one of the two CMS documentation styles: the Notes-Bibliography System (NB), which is used by those in literature, history, and the arts. The other documentation style, the Author-Date System, is nearly identical in content but slightly different in form and is preferred in the social/sciences.
If you need some extra guidance on citing government information/publications, you can refer to this guide.
In general, plagiarism is the deliberate or unintentional use of someone's words (verbal and written), ideas (concrete and implied), physical works (including artwork and photography), and digital content (including images, video, audio, etc.) without giving them credit. It is important for you to know that you can plagiarize without meaning to, and regardless of your intent, there can be consequences by the university. The university and the library want to help you learn to avoid it.
This guide is intended to help you begin to understand plagiarism in college, the many different types of plagiarism, how to avoiding plagiarism, and the additional resources available to you.
Perdue Online Writing Lab also has some additional information on avoiding plagiarism that you may find useful.
In sum, when in doubt, just ask. if you have questions, please contact your instructor, the UNT Writing Center, or your Women's and Gender Studies Librarian, Julie Leuzinger.
