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Writing 10: College Reading and Composition (49-Downey)

Spring 2024

Step 5 - Organize, Write, & Cite

Organizing your research can help make the writing and citing process easier. Use tips from this page to guide you in this step. Decorative element (pencil icon)

Why do we cite? Several reasons! 

  1. It makes us look good. Seriously, it's ethical and responsible to help readers differentiate our ideas from those we are using from others.
  2. It helps us point our readers to our sources where they can more deeply engage with the scholarly conversation.
  3. It helps us to learn how to communicate formally within our discipline/major.
  4. We avoid plagiarism by quoting the words or paraphrasing ideas of other scholars.

Organize Your Research & Avoid Plagiarism (infographic)

Organizing Your Research

How to Avoid Plagiarism

  • Give proper credit to those whose ideas you are borrowing in your own work through citation.
  • One great way to track where you get your ideas is to take good notes during your research process.

Ways to Take Notes During the Research Process

Table showing suggestions for staying organized during your research process
Analog Options Digital Options

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Notecards

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Spreadsheet

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A Research Journal

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Citation Management Software 

Some popular ones are Zotero,

Mendeley, and EndNote (Web).

 

Tips

  • Highlight useful search words and subject headings
  • Keep track of where you found your sources in case you or another researcher needs to go back to verify the information you cite. This can also help you be efficient by avoiding repeating the same searches.

Long description of "Organize Your Research" for Web Accessibility

Writing Resources

Assistance on Campus

Online Resources

Major Citation Styles - Offical & Credible Guidance

Official Style Manuals

There are many different types of academic and professional writing styles. The four guidebooks below represent some of the major ones. Use these guides to learn how professional researchers and writers prepare their manuscripts for publication or sharing.

Major Style Guides by Fields that Use Them -- Click the image to be taken to the book or e-book in our library collection.
Fields
 Humanities Social Sciences Humanities & Social Sciences Some Sciences
Example
Style
Guides

Cover image of the MLA Handbook, Ninth Edition

MLA Handbook

Cover image of the American Psychological Association Publication Manual, 7th edition

APA Publication Manual

Cover image of The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition

Chicago Manual of Style (e-book)

Cover image of the CSE Manual, Scientific Style and Format, 8th edition

CSE Manual

Online Style Resources

Although these resources are not official, they are still credible and very useful! If one of these websites doesn't answer your question, check out the official style guide or contact a librarian for help!

Guides from UC Merced Library 

Citing and Attributing Images in Presentations, etc.

A photo of someone holding a sign that says "Give Thanks".

Photo by Simon Maage on Unsplash

Attribution statements 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?

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 2.0

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.

More from UC Merced Library

Step 5 - Pause to Reflect

Pause to Reflect Decorative element (icon of a thought process)

First of all, congratulations on making it this far! You may still have some loose ends to tie up, and that is OK. Take a moment to think back through your research process. Did you learn any helpful tips along the way? Are there new strategies that you can use for future projects or papers?

Do you still need more information? You can go back to previous steps at any time to revisit your research question or look for more or different sources of information.

If you think you missed something, please feel free to reach out to a Research Librarian: