Introduction to Research: Humanities and Social Sciences

Citing sources is an important part of your research as it documents what sources you have used in writing your paper and enables the reader to locate the sources you have consulted.

Different academic disciplines at Queen’s use different citation styles so do check with your professor or teaching assistant whether a particular citation style is required for a course or discipline or whether you can choose one based on personal preference.

Check our Citing & Citation Management page for assistance in using various citation styles.

For a summary and comparison of three citation styles (MLA, APA and Chicago), go to Truman State University's, Assembling a List of Works Cited in Your Paper.

Plagiarism

The Oxford English Dictionary defines plagiarism as the “wrongful appropriation…, and publication as one’s own, of the ideas, or the expression of the ideas (literary, artistic, musical, mechanical, etc.) of another (2nd ed., 1989).

Plagiarism is a serious offense. Check Iowa State University’s guide on Understanding Plagiarism  and the website, Academic Integrity @ Queen's

Avoiding Plagiarism

Check the following guides:

• Citing Sources & Avoiding Plagiarism (University of Toronto Libraries)
• You Quote It, You Note It! (Vaughan Memorial Library, Acadia University)
• Avoiding Plagiarism (Glendale College Library)
• Plagiarism: What it is and how to avoid it (Thompson Rivers University)