Find information from more than one source: that can help you check the accuracy of your facts.
DO NOT PLAGIARIZE! Plagiarism is stealing someone else's hard work and passing it off as your own original work. You can avoid plagiarism by
Putting information you found in your own words.
Directly quoting an author, and then citing the original source of your information. For example:
According to Webster's dictionary, the word oasis means, ""a fertile place in the desert, due to the presence of water"" (Webster's Dictionary, p. 933).
In this way, you've used the original words, but you've given credit to the authors of the dictionary for coming up with the definition.
A BIBLIOGRAPHY
A bibliography is a list of the sources you used to learn about and report on your topic. It's important because you may need to look something up again, and your teacher may want to double check some of your facts too!
It is important to follow a specific format for each type of resource, as you'll see here. Then, once you have practiced on a sloppy copy, you'll copy a final bibliography in alphabetical order according to the first word in each entry. Also, make sure you remember to indent correctly: the SECOND (& third, etc) LINE is indented, not the first like in a new paragraph.
BOOK SOURCE, ONE AUTHOR:
Author's last name, first name. Title. City of publication: Publisher, Copyright date.
Broekel, Ray. Experiments with Water. Chicago: Childrens' Press, 1988.
TWO AUTHORS:
Last name, first name and first name, last name. Title. City of publication: Publisher, Copyright date.
Parker, Steve and Jane Parker. Deserts and Dry Lands. San Diego, CA: Thunder Bay Press, 1996.
EDITOR AS AUTHOR:
Last name, first name, ed. Title. City of Publication: Publisher, Copyright date.
Stein, Frank N., ed. The Mechanics of the Human Body. London: Monster Press, 1995.
MAGAZINES/NEWSPAPERS/PERIODICALS:
SIGNED ARTICLE:
Last name, first name. "Title of Article," Title of Magazine Volume/Month/Year, pages used.
Smith, John. "Gulfstream Magic," Time April 1994, 34-56.
UNSIGNED ARTICLE:
"Title of Article," Title of Magazine Volume/Month/Year, pages used.
"Taking the bite out of rabies," National Geographic World November 1999, 27-29.
ENCYCLOPEDIA/REFERENCE TEXT
SIGNED ARTICLE:
Author's last name, first name. "Title of Article." Title of Encyclopedia, edition, volume: pages used.
Littleton, Scott. "Mythology." World Book Encyclopedia, 1988 ed., Vol. 13: 245-345.
UNSIGNED ARTICLE:
"Title of Article." Title of Encyclopedia, edition, volume: pages used.
PERSONAL INTERVIEW:
Last name, first name. Title of person and company (or personal relationship). City and state. Personal Interview. Month Day, Year.
Thompson, Beth. Teacher, Columbus Spanish Immersion Academy. Columbus, Ohio. Personal Interview. August 10, 2002.
COMPUTER-ACCESSED SOURCES:
CD-ROM:
Author's last name, first name. "Title of Article." Title of publication, Version numbers. Place of publication: Publisher, copyright date.
Zieger, Herman E. "Aldehyde." The Software Toolworks Multimedia Encyclopedia, Version 1.5. Boston: Grolier, 1992.
ELECTRONIC (WWW.) SOURCES:
Give as much of the following information as you can find online. Indicate information that is not included- for example, (no date given). It's better to give too much information than too little! Remember, the address is where you access the information: the URL or http://www.
WEB PAGES:
Web page author's last name, first name. "Title of web page." Date created/modified. Sponsoring or associated organization. Date you saw it. Address (URL).
Abilock, Debbie. "Research on a Complex Topic." September 9, 1997. Nueva School. December 31, 1997. http:''www.nueva.pvt.k12.ca.us/~debbie/library/research/advice.html.
ONLINE MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS, ETC:
Follow directions above for each type of source, then add the URL to the end of the bibliography entry.
It may seem like cheating...
but these online resources may help as well:
Bibliographies the easy way- just choose the type of source you need to list on your bibliography, enter the information asked for, and the site will create a correct entry for you!
http://www.landmark-project.com/citation_machine/index.php
