DBA: Writing and Citing

Most academic work draws upon the works of others; therefore, citing your sources is an important part of the scholarly writing process.

Citations include the key elements that allow your sources to be identified and located. These elements vary depending upon the type of resource.

There are several reasons to cite your sources:

• Give proper credit to the ideas, words, and works of others you use in your research
• Allow readers to find your sources - so they can determine if they are reliable, better evaluate your argument, and locate additional information
• Avoid plagiarism (see Georgia State University Academic Honesty Policy.)
  

Citation managers, or bibliographic management software, can save you hours by keeping track of your sources and formatting your bibliographies.

EndNote and EndNote Web are available at no cost to GSU students, faculty and staff. Zotero is available as a free Firefox plugin for anyone to download.

Use software like EndNote and Zotero to manage your sources - download citations from library databases; export the bibliography into your paper. Compare the features of some different citation manager programs here.

EndNote is a free download for GSU students, faculty and staff.  It's a desktop application that runs on Windows or MacOS.  Check out the EndNote Research Guide for video tutorials and usage guides. 

Zotero is a freely available citation manager that easily saves citations from GIL and most library databases, as well as sites like Amazon and the New York Times online.

Mendeley is a free reference management tool that facilitates sharing and collaboration. 

All of these programs have Word plugins that automatically create bibliographies in the style of your choice.