Citation facts for kids

An example of a bibliography

A citation is like a special note that tells your readers where you found information for your school projects, essays, or presentations. It's a way to show everyone which books, articles, websites, or pictures you used.

Citations are super important for a few reasons:

• They give credit to the original author or creator of the ideas and information you use. It's only fair to acknowledge their hard work!
• They help your readers find the original sources if they want to learn more.
• They make your work more trustworthy. When you cite your sources, it shows that your information isn't just made up.

Not giving credit is called plagiarism. Plagiarism means using someone else's ideas or words and pretending they are your own. This is a serious problem, especially in school, and can lead to trouble.

Why You Need to Cite

When you're writing a paper or doing a project, you'll often use information from other people's work. It's important to know when and how to give them credit. Different schools or teachers might have slightly different rules, so always check what they prefer!

When to Cite Information

You usually need to cite a source in these situations:

• Direct Quotations: If you copy words exactly from a source, you must put them in quotation marks (" ") and then add a citation.

* For example: "Quality or junk? How do you want your research described by others?"

• Paraphrasing: This is when you take someone else's ideas or words and put them into your own words. Even though you're not copying exactly, the idea still came from somewhere else, so you need to cite it. A paraphrase is usually about the same length as the original text.

* Original: "And there is only one fault so obvious, so fundamental, that it instantly brands a piece of work as the product of an amateur or careless researcher: poor source citations". * Paraphrased: If your citations are not good, it often shows that your research was either done carelessly or by someone who isn't very experienced.

• Summarizing: A summary is a shorter version of someone else's work, written in your own words. When you summarize, you still need to cite the original source.

* Original: "When you don’t know when to cite, you end up plagiarizing which is just a big word for stealing and that’s mean. And when you plagiarize, you also get an “F” and people think, “Dude, that kid is one dumb bunny.” Let’s avoid that, shall we?" * Summarized: If you don't understand how to cite, you might accidentally plagiarize. To avoid this and get a good grade, it's important to learn the basic rules.

• Facts and Ideas: If you use facts or information to support your own ideas, you generally need a citation. However, you don't always need to cite things that are common knowledge (like "water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit"). But if you're not sure, it's always better to cite!

When You Don't Need to Cite

You don't need to cite things that are considered common knowledge. These are facts that most people would already know or that are easily found in many places.

Here are some examples of common knowledge:

• Facts that are widely available in many sources. For example: Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States.
• Things that are easy to observe or see. For example: Many people use cell phones today.
• Common sayings. For example: "To make a long story short..."

Remember, if you're ever unsure, it's always safest to add a citation!

What Information Goes in a Citation

The details you include in a citation depend on the type of source you used. Here are some common examples:

• Book: The authors' names, the book title, where it was published, the publisher, the date it was published, and page numbers if you used specific pages.
• Journal Article: The authors' names, the article title, the journal title, the publication date, and page numbers.
• Newspaper Article: The authors' names, the article title, the name of the newspaper, and the publication date.
• Website: The authors' names (if available), the article or page title, the website name, the URL (the web address), and the date you looked at the site.
• Interview: The name of the person you interviewed, a description of the interview (like "personal interview"), and the date of the interview.

Special Identifiers

Sometimes, citations might also include unique codes that help identify a specific work:

• Books might have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN).
• Online articles might have a digital object identifier (DOI).

How Citations Are Organized

There are two main ways to organize citations: the Vancouver system and parenthetical referencing.

Vancouver System

The Vancouver system uses numbers in your text. These numbers usually appear as small numbers above the line (like this: ¹) or in brackets [1]. These numbers then point to a list of full source details, either at the bottom of the page (called footnotes) or at the very end of your paper (called endnotes).

The sources in the endnotes or footnotes are listed in the order they appear in your paper, not in alphabetical order.

For example, in your paper, you might write:

"The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance."¹

Then, at the bottom of the page or at the end of your paper, the note would look like this:

1. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying (New York: Macmillan, 1969) 45–60.

Parenthetical Referencing

Parenthetical referencing, sometimes called Harvard referencing, puts short citations right inside your paragraph, usually in parentheses (round brackets).

An example of this might look like:

"The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance" (Kübler-Ross, 1969, pp. 45–60).

With this system, you usually have a full list of all your sources at the very end of your paper. This list is often called "References," "Bibliography," or "Works Cited," and it's usually sorted alphabetically by the author's last name.

Different Citation Styles

Many different organizations and fields of study have created their own specific citation styles. These styles tell you exactly how to format your citations, including things like:

• The order of information (e.g., author, date, title, page numbers).
• What punctuation to use (like commas, periods, or colons).
• When to use italic text or "quotation marks".

Some common styles you might use in school include:

Humanities Styles

These styles are often used in subjects like history, literature, and art.

• The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS): Often used in history and economics. It's very flexible and can use both notes and parenthetical citations.
• MLA Style: Developed by the Modern Language Association, this style is very common in English classes and other language arts subjects. It uses parenthetical citations with the author's last name and page number (e.g., Smith 395). At the end of your paper, you'll have a "Works Cited" page with full details.

Science and Math Styles

These styles are typically used in subjects like biology, chemistry, and engineering.

• ACS Style: Used in chemistry and some other physical sciences. It numbers references in the text and in the reference list.
• Vancouver System: Recommended by the Council of Science Editors (CSE), this system is widely used in medical and scientific papers. It uses numbers in square brackets or as superscripts in the text, which refer to a numbered list of references at the end.
• APA Style: Developed by the American Psychological Association, this style is very common in social sciences like psychology and sociology. It uses parenthetical citations with the author's last name and the year of publication (e.g., Smith, 2000). At the end of your paper, you'll have a "References" section.

Social Sciences Styles

These styles are used in subjects like psychology, sociology, and political science.

• APA Style: (As mentioned above) This is one of the most common styles in social sciences.
• ASA Style: Used by the American Sociological Association for sociology papers.

MLA Works Cited Example

Here's an example of how a book chapter might be cited in an MLA "Works Cited" list:

Images for kids

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  xkcd webcomic titled "Wikipedian Protester". The sign says: "[CITATION NEEDED]".

See also

In Spanish: Referencia bibliográfica para niños