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BIOL 3520: Cell Biology Lab

Library resources for your problem-solving presentations.

When Do I Use a Citation?

Anytime you use information from an article or book that isn't general knowledge, then you need to acknowledge the source with a citation. You need a citation whether you paraphrase a source or quote it directly. Scientists usually don't use quotations in papers.

Remember that you have to provide an in-text citation after a sentence in your paper AND you need to put the complete reference in your Cited References (sometimes called Reference List or Bibliography).

Ask yourself, would I have known that information without reading the source? If no, then cite. The Plagiarism guide shares what is plagiarism and best practices to avoid it. The Citations & Style guide shows how to properly cite others works and build citations.

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