Why Do We Cite?

In short, there are two main reasons for why we cite the sources we use when we write:

• Our readers may want to know where the information that we are citing comes from. If you locate a particularly interesting article, your reader may be tempted to go find it.
• When we use someone's work in our writing, we are entering into an ongoing conversation. By acknowledging who you are quoting indicates to your reader how you are contributing to a particular scholarly conversation

Useful Resources

You can either do citations manually or with the help of an application/software. The following is a list of resources that can be useful when you need to cite your sources:

• The Purdue OWL: The Purdue OWL offers global support through online reference materials and services. You can find information about the most popular citing styles.

• PLU Writing Center: The PLU Writing Center offers one-on-one citation and writing assistance to the PLU community. You can find them in the second floor of the library

• Zotero: A tool that lets you organize your research. Zotero can connect to Word and Google Docs for a faster workflow. Applications like this one are very useful when working on larger research projects.

• ZoteroBib: This tool helps you build a bibliography instantly from any computer or device, without creating an account or installing any software. If you need to reuse sources across multiple projects or build a shared research library, we recommend using Zotero instead.

• Mendeley: Another tool that lets you organize your research. Mendeley is also a community of researchers that lets you connect to people that may have similar interests to you.