In the UVA School of Education and Human Development, our preferred citation style is American Psychological Association (APA): 7th Edition. APA Style is used by writers in many disciplines around the world for concise, powerful, and persuasive scholarly communication.
Why do we care about citing as researchers? Proper citation is important, not only so we don't plagiarize, but because our work can help inform other researchers. When you write a paper or present your findings you are participating in the greater scholarly ecosystem. Think of it as a conversation, you want to keep it going! Just like when you refer a friend to great restaurants in your area, your paper or presentation refers other researchers to relevant research!
1. Understand why we cite and cite correctly. We cite to avoid taking credit for someone else's work, but we also cite to connect others in our community to great research! Think about when you have a friend visiting from out of town. You have recommendations on the best restaurants, bars, and trails. You want to give them specific names and locations, not just "that burger place" or "the trail near the high school." Specifics matter! The same goes with citations.
2. When in doubt, cite. If you're debating on whether you need to cite something, you should definitely cite it.
3. Check out these examples of plagiarism from Northern Illinois University. This site shows examples and how to fix them if you are accidentally doing the same.
4. Watch the video below to understand how to identify and avoid plagiarism.