Jake complained about gathering source details while writing a paper. He asked why are they needed? I explained this to him below.
Whenever you use a source in a paper, like for this Photography class, and share a quote or idea from someone, you need to provide an attribution, which means to give the name of the authors, title, source, etc. Not giving credit for using someone else's words or thoughts is unethical and is called Plagiarism. How would you like it, if someone copied and used your own writing and then claimed credit for it?
The academic way of giving attribution is to provide Citations. They indicate the sources. There are specific ways of making citations, and different organizations have standards, such as MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychology Association), and a few others. Ask your teacher what style he or she prefers and then be consistent. At Salt Lake Community College most classes are using either MLA style or APA style citations, as well as for the general formatting style of their papers.
Most of the Library databases have built- in citation tools (linked to the results) which makes formatting your items a breeze.
Citations tools can vary by database. Look for where it says "Cite" or "Citation." Then choose the specific style needed. These database-generated citations may not be completely 100% accurate, but they are close. It's a good idea to compare them with a guide or to get help with checking them before submitting your paper.
Each basic style has its own online citation guide, from either the Modern Language Assoc. or the American Psychology Assoc.:
(Don't forget about how to do the In-Text citations, as well as full references.)
In addition there is more help here at these places:
After he started using them in his paper, Jake understood why reference citations were needed. He also found that they supported his information and made the information in his paper more credible, as well as providing a source for where readers could learn more on the topic covered.
