Top Tips for Proper Citation

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 Sources. Feel 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.