Citing or referencing your sources may seem laborious and boring - but it's very important. There are many important reasons to do it and to do it correctly:
It allows the reader of your paper (in this case your instructor) to identify the sources you used so they can find the item for themselves and perhaps use it for their own research.
A good scholarly research paper must give attribution or acknowledgement to the fact that you have used or have been influenced by the ideas, words and intellectual property of others.
It is one of the ways to help you avoid plagiarism.
Copying someone else's words without using quotation marks and citing the source.
Restating or summarizing someone else's original or specialized ideas without citing the source.
Pretending someone else's work is your own.
Adds credibility and authority to your work by demonstrating that you have taken the time to conduct research and have considered a variety of different opinions and angles on the topic.
You can also demonstrate which of the ideas you agree with, disagree with, while at the same time adding some of your own opinions and thoughts on the topic
By the end of this semester, YOU will have mastered the principles of citing references correctly and be able to apply these skills to any research papers that you write in the future.
