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UWRT100 Critical Reading & Writing: MLA/APA & Video Tutorials

This guide points to library resources and databases for topic research in this class
https://infoguides.rit.edu/prf.php?account_id=43304
Last Updated: Aug 2, 2021 6:08 PM

Using Popular Citation Styles

Book cover images of the APA and MLA style books.The two most popular styles used in research papers are APA (American Psychological Association) 7th edition and MLA (Modern Language Association) 8th edition. APA is used in the behavioral and social sciences areas. MLA is used in the humanities area.

There are formatting rules one follows when writing a research paper (margins, page numbers, titles, capitalization, etc.), creating in-text citations in the body of the paper, and writing full citations in the References or the Works Cited page (the last page). View the APA  or the MLA sample paper. Some professors may ask you to submit your papers to TurnItin, a plagiarism checking database.

You must have both the in-text citations and the References or Works Cited page which is a list of all sources you used for your paper. There is an online citation builder, NoodleTools, which you can use to create citations. You must log on through the library website in order to get free access. 

Why Should We Use Citations?

If you need a NoodleTools online citation builder tutorial, check out this guide.

Why Do We Need to Cite Sources for Papers or Presentations?

  • We need to acknowledge another person's work and ideas and give him credit.
  • You have more credibility because your paper shows you reviewed, evaluated, and selected sources during the research process
  • You avoid plagiarism.
  • Your sources are easier to find. Readers can find the sources you used.

How Do You Incorporate Sources Within Your Paper or Presentation?

  • Quoting-Copy a short passage word for word, set off by quotation marks.
  • Summarizing--Restate the main ideas in your own words which is shorter than the origiinal
  • Paraphrasing--Take an idea and put it in your own words.

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