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Citing Sources: Why Cite?

Academic Honesty

Academic honesty is a critical part of the research process. Accurately citing the words and ideas of others is a must for all George Brown students. Therefore, please consult the following resources for any help you may need regarding academic honesty.

Library Learning Commons Resources

Tutorial

Citation Basics: Why Cite?

This brief tutorial will help you understand the importance of citing sources, why and when to cite, and key concepts such as quoting and 
paraphrasing.

About this Guide

This guide was created to help you accurately cite sources within your research projects. It is ultimately intended to help you avoid plagiarism, which is defined in George Brown's Student Code of Conduct as: "a direct quotation, paraphrasing or expressing an idea that was articulated by someone else from a text or paper without identification as to source...".

Plagiarism is a serious academic offence, and has very serious consequences for students. Therefore, this citation guide will provide you with a collection of resources that will allow you to better understand academic honesty, and ultimately, how to cite your papers accurately and confidently.

Citing your sources is an essential part of college research which allows you to acknowledge and use the works of others in your essays, research and assignments. Remember, any information (including ideas!) that you did not create yourself must be credited using a citation method - the most popular are APA and MLA. If you are not sure, remember to ask your instructor which citation method they would like you to use!

If you have any questions please contact our staff at the reference and research desks and we will help you further.

Acknowledgements

**The "How do I Cite" sections of this guide were reproduced with the permission of Seneca College Libraries. For further information, please contact Seneca College Library. 

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Citation Generators

Individual database citation generators may not format your citations accurately - the information will be correct, but the format may be incorrect. It is your responsibility to check the results with recommended style guides or with other reputable published sources.