Citations in your paper are necessary to provide credit to the proper sources; failure to cite properly could result in plagiarism.
Although it is important to cite any ideas retrieved from sources, such as paraphrased explanations, quotations, statistics, or figures. It is not necessary to cite common knowledge (i.e., you do not need to cite that the Earth is round). Credit a source in each sentence that references material from a source.
One of the central features of scholarly writing is the use of evidence to make an argument. You must learn how to incorporate other scholars' writing and arguments into your own.
In scholarly writing, you will often use paraphrased material or direct quotations from sources to support your research and strengthen your academic argument. Although direct quotations are generally not as strong as paraphrases, they can add evidence and substance to your scholarly argument. Do keep in mind, however, that some instructors forbid direct quotations for some assignments.
Claire and Max discuss how to incorporate evidence into your academic writing, as well as how to use citations effectively to support your evidence.
"I always focus on the idea of support that you just mentioned. Rarely does a piece of evidence, to me, prove something-- instead, it just kind of offers support to whatever idea you're making an argument about. Evidence can take all sorts of forms as well. It could be an expert's opinion on something, it could be scholarly work published in an academic journal. The important thing to remember, though, I think is that not all evidence is created equal."
Reference list entries contain specific publication information, allowing readers to find the publication. The information is presented in a standard format, including order of information, use of italics and parentheses, and other markers to help distinguish between different parts of the reference entry. APA style entries follow this basic format:
Author. (Publication date). Title of document. Publishing information. Electronic retrieval information.
For specific examples of numerous reference formats with notes and tips, see the Common Reference List Examples page. For help on evaluating resources and identifying types of resources, please visit the library's Evaluating Resources pages.
The introduction to references and citations modules on this page offer students the opportunity to learn the basics of APA references and citations.
You can complete the modules in the order listed on this page or you can jump directly to a particular module that you would like to complete.
Walden has many resources to help students understand the expectations for accurately citing the sources they use in their writing. We have curated these resources in this kit, and we encourage you to use it to help you avoid plagiarism in your own writing.
Explore the Plagiarism Prevention Resource Kit
Plagiarism can refer to a wide range of academic integrity issues both inside and outside of academic writing. These plagiarism prevention modules focus specifically on the appropriate ways writers should incorporate and cite sources they use in their writing.
In these modules you will:
Because there are different types of plagiarism, the Writing Center has created two plagiarism modules: Avoiding Overt Plagiarism and Avoiding Passive Plagiarism. Review the information about each module and watch the module preview below before choosing which one best fits your needs and will help you develop your writing and citing skills.