A citation answers one question: where would I go to check this?
In the sentence
Name the source where you use it — it reads better than a bracket and it tells the reader how much weight the claim carries.
A 2023 report from Statistics Canada found that…
For the texts we study, cite by act, scene, and line for drama and by page for prose:
Juliet calls her name “the enemy” of Romeo (2.2.38). The generator fails on the third day (Rice 71).
In the Works Cited list
Alphabetical, at the end.
A play in a single edition
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Edited by Roma Gill, Oxford University Press, 2001.
A novel
Rice, Waubgeshig. Moon of the Crusted Snow. ECW Press, 2018.
An article on a website
Nguyen, Thanh. “What the Storm Took.” The Globe and Mail, 3 Feb. 2024, theglobeandmail.com/canada/storm-took.
A film or video
Romeo + Juliet. Directed by Baz Luhrmann, 20th Century Fox, 1996.
Three habits that prevent the whole problem
- Record the source the moment you use it, not at the end.
- Write one sentence in your own words beside every source you keep.
- If you cannot tell whose words they are, they are not yours yet — close the tab and write from memory.
Academic honesty, plainly
Using words or ideas as though you produced them. That includes pasting, rewording somebody’s argument without naming them, and having a model write a passage. The response here is a rewrite, done properly, with me — because a mark for work that is not yours describes nobody.
Curriculum connection
C1.5
determine whether the ideas and information gathered are relevant to the topic, accurate, and complete and appropriately meet the requirements of the writing task (e.g., verify information in another source; review supporting quotations to ensure that they accurately illustrate the intended point; use a checklist to ensure that all main points are adequately supported)
Link to original
C3.7
produce pieces of published work to meet criteria identified by the teacher, based on the curriculum expectations (e.g., adequate development of information and ideas, logical organization, appropriate use of form and style, appropriate use of conventions)
Link to original