Read each source carefully and make notes on its relationship to your assignment. Recording your own words on first reading will help you create an original paper or presentation without relying on extended quotations. You must cite the source for each idea that influences your work, whether or not you quote it directly. Only brief quotations are permitted anyway, so this is a good opportunity to express your thoughts.

Your professor may require bibliography cards or an annotated bibliography with citations and your comments or a summary of each source you select. According to requirements of each assignment, prepare a bibliography of all sources you selected.

Attributing or "citing" sources is essential to the integrity of scholarly and professional communication. In any science, sources must be verifiable. To facilitate access to supporting information by professors and others interested in our work, we use a common protocol, called a "style sheet."

Citation style is arbitrary, and there are many style sheets in use by scholars and publishers. As an Averett University student you will use the Modern Language Association (MLA) style or American Psychological Association (APA) style, or both.

Style sheet requirements may seem picky at first, but it's easy to see how consistency helps the reader scan through "in text" citations and bibliographies in a journal issue. If your readers cannot locate your sources, they will be unable to validate your research and support or refute its conclusions.

Style sheets govern the format of citations in the body of a paper (called "in text" references), and also the format of citations in the "Works Cited" or "References" list at the end of a paper. Depending on what your professor requires, the style sheet may also determine headers, line spacing, indentions and other features of your entire paper. Please consult with your professor or refer to the course syllabus if you are unsure of requirements for your class.

Lipson, Charles. Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare

     Citations, Avoid Plagiarism, and Achieve Real Academic Success.

     Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2004.

Goyette, Kimberly A. and Ann L. Mullen. "Who Studies the Arts and

      Sciences? Social Background and the Choice and Consequences

      of Undergraduate Field of Study." Journal of Higher Education

      77.3.  (May-June 2006): 497-538. Expanded Academic ASAP.

      26 September 2006 <http://web.averett.edu/library/>. Path:

      Databases A-Z.

Lipson, C. (2004). Doing honest work in college: how to prepare

     citations, avoid plagiarism, and achieve real academic success.

     Chicago : University of Chicago Press.

Goyette, K. A., & Mullen, A. L. (2006, May-June). Who studies the arts and

      sciences? Social background and the choice and consequences

      of undergraduate field of study. Journal of Higher Education,

      77(3), 497-538. Retrieved September 26, 2006, from the

      Expanded Academic ASAP database.

There are many more variations, including examples of "in text" references, that you may have to look up in the style guides available at the library Reference Desk. Call 791-5696 or 800-544-9440 for assistance.

Prepare a brief, annotated bibliography in MLA or APA style using the citations and article copies you saved in Exercise 6.