Citing Information

Click here to access the Citing Your Sources Library Guide! 
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Top Tips for Proper Citation

Citing Information

In academic work, we often cite the thoughts or words of others. This means we make a reference in our writing to someone else's work and we document the various sources we found and used.

Check out these tips for citation success:

  1. Check out VIU Library's guide to Citing Your SourcesFeel free to visit the VIU Library for citation help!
  2. Remember: At university, you do your best work—in a paper, a presentation, or a research poster—when you base your ideas on the work of other thinkers, researchers, or students. It's not just about your ideas, but it's how your ideas have been shaped by others.
  3. Citing is mainly done by following certain rules or conventions called citation styles. The most widely used styles are APA (used in the social sciences and in many management courses), MLA (often used in English courses and the humanities), and Chicago (used in various academic disciplines, especially history).
  4. Talk to your instructors about citation. They can tell you which styles to follow for particular courses. Instructors can have varying style preferences, and some academic disciplines use one style over others.
  5. Double check the course outlines your instructors give you at the beginning of term. Course outlines often have information about which citation style to follow.

Student Support Areas

At VIU's Writing Centre, you can meet with faculty who can help you with all aspects of the writing process including using academic citation styles.


Improve Your Writing and Research

Improve Your Writing and Research

Assistance to be a better writer while you find and cite information accurately

Citation Tools

You might consider using a special application that can help you organize all your citation information as well as help you format bibliographies or reference lists. VIU Library can provide you information on choosing a citation management tool.

Citation Resources