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Engineering 156: Technical & Professional Writing for Science & Engineers

Zotero guidance for use with papers

Finding this page.

 https://libguides.ucmerced.edu/engineering-156-keske/citing

Why Cite?

  • Citations let your readers know where you got the information you used in your writing.
  • They give credit to your sources and situate your work within the context of your field.
  • Citing sources accurately and thoroughly demonstrates that you understand where your work fits in scholarly discourse and that you have reviewed literature relevant to your topic.

Citing and Attributing Images in Presentations, etc.

Attribution statements A photo of someone holding a sign that says "Give Thanks".give credit to the original creator(s) whenever you reuse or re-purpose their content. If someone reused your creative works would you want them to give you attribution?

 

 

 

Photo by Simon Maage on Unsplash

What's the standard we use to give attribution?

As recommended by Creative Commons, this is an ideal attribution:

Cupcakes on a glass platter on a green table

“Creative Commons 10th Birthday Celebration San Francisco” by tvol is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Because:

  1. What is the title? “Creative Commons 10th Birthday Celebration San Francisco”
  2. Who is the creator/author? “tvol” – linked to their profile page
  3. What's the source? “Creative Commons 10th Birthday Celebration San Francisco” – linked to original Flickr page
  4. What license is used?? “CC BY 2.0” – linked to license deed

Citations vs. Attribution

What's the difference? 

 

Citation

Attribution

Purpose 

Academic and legal purposes (plagiarism and copyright infringement).

Legal purposes (e.g., rules of Creative Commons licenses).

Rights 

The rights of the copy (meaning copyright) are NOT shared with the general public by the copyright holder.

Copyright IS shared with the general public by the copyright holder by marking the work with an open-copyright license.

Permission 

Protects an author who wants to refer to a restricted work by another author.

Author of an open work has given advanced permissions to use their work.

Usage 

Used to quote or paraphrase a limited portion of a restricted work.

Used to quote (or paraphrase) all or a portion of an openly licensed work.

 Remix / Adapt 

Can paraphrase, but cannot change work without permission.

Author has give advanced permission to change work.

Style 

Many citation styles are available: APA, Chicago, MLA.

Attribution statement styles are still emerging, but there are some defined best practices.

Giving Credit 

A reference list of cited resources are typically placed at the end of the book.

Attribution statements are found on the same page as the resource.

Learn more:

Related guides from UC Merced Library