Research, Citation, & Class Guides: English 102: College Writing (Prof. Wilson): Citing

Why Cite?

Documenting your sources is a necessity, which:

Allows readers to find your sources;
Provides evidence for your arguments;
Adds credibility to your work;
Avoids plagiarism, the consequence of which could be an allegation of academic misconduct. This could result disciplinary sanctions such as an oral reprimand, redoing your assignment, losing points off your grade, failing the class, being expelled, etc., all of which depend in part on the severity of the offense. For details, see the Avoiding Academic Misconduct Procedures web document and related documents such as Disciplinary Procedures: Student Academic Misconduct: UWS Chapter 14.

MLA Style

Whether you choose to quote, summarize, or paraphrase sources you use in your research paper, you must cite each one. For rules and examples in MLA 8th ed. style, look here:

MLA Handbook (9th ed.) - UW-Whitewater Reference Desk LB2369 .M52 2021
Citing References: MLA Style (8th ed.) - (UW-Whitewater libraries)
MLA Style (8th ed.) (Web guide) - (UW-Whitewater libraries)
MLA Documentation Guide (8th ed.) - (Writing Center, UW-Madison)
MLA Formatting and Style Guide (9th ed.) - (Online Writing Lab at Purdue)

Want to jump start your list of references? This Citation Helper Tools guide may have some tools you can use. The library supports both Zotero and EndNote. We'll even help you set them up on your laptop.

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