Information gathered from any source - books, journals, films, web sites, even personal conversations and unpublished manuscripts - cannot be reused without citing the source of your information. The method used for citing sources within an assignment depends on the formatting style or guidelines chosen by your class instructor. This information is generally found in your class syllabus.
Formatting styles are developed by different organizations to help create a systematic way of formatting papers within a variety of professions and academic fields. That is why there are multiple formatting styles in use. Generally, St. Augustine instructors will have students use APA or MLA format.
The rules are different depending on the format, but generally you must do the following when citing sources within a paper:
1. Use footnotes, endnotes, or in-text citations to give credit to a direct quotation. Remember: when information is taken word-for-word from a source and included in a paper, it should ALWAYS be in quotations no matter what style format you are using.
2. Include a reference page, bibliography, or list of works cited at the end of a paper.
Follow guidelines from your instructor about citing your sources correctly. Choose one of the following standard citation formats:
APA - American Psychological Association (used in social sciences and some sciences)
CMS - Chicago Manual of Style (also called University of Chicago/Turabian) (used in other disciplines including humanities)
MLA - Modern Language Association (used in English and humanities)
The St. Augustine College Tutoring Center often hosts workshops focused on teaching students how to properly use the major citation formats. Click the "TUTORING SERVICES" tab at the top of this page to find out when the next workshop is scheduled.