Library FAQ

Cite:

• Every time you quote someone else directly
• Every time you summarize or paraphrase someone else's thoughts in your own words*
• Every time you use a fact that's not common knowledge**
• Every time you use an idea, theory, hypothesis, or opinion, even if you use your own words
• Every time you use an image, graph, chart, video, audio clip, or interactive element
• When in doubt, cite

* When you summarize a work (or a chunk of a work) you cannot just cite once at the end of your summary. Every discrete fact and idea needs to be cited. Your in-text citations are meant to help your reader go directly to the place where you found that exact piece of information.

** What's common knowledge? Something that's so widely known that nobody really knows or cares where the information came from, like "Chlorophyll is green" or "Monet was an Impressionist painter."