GEOG 438W
Human Dimensions of Global Warming

When to Cite

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This writing workshop aims to provide guidance on when it is necessary to cite sources and when it is not.[1] The following writing symposium will present information on how to use citations and will be especially useful to you as you soon complete the first exam for the course.

For those of you for whom the era of copy and paste has been the only one in which you've operated as a student, it can be especially challenging to understand what and when to cite. A good general guideline is when in doubt, cite it. Most instructors would much rather see an excessively cited document than an under-cited one. Another way to think about it is if you're talking about someone else's idea, even if you've paraphrased it, you still need to attribute it to the source.

cartoon showing a student complaining about receiving an F and complaining to the teacher that his facts can't be wrong because he copied everything from the internet
Student doesn't get why his copied work didn't earn a good grade
Credit: Grammarly


Working with Citations

How should I cite this class?  Hey, that's a great question and it comes up a lot when we get into our writing projects. So, let's make this simple:

  • Robinson, B. (2023). [Title of specific content page in sentence case]. GEOG 438W Human Dimensions of Global Warming. [Specific Page URL].

Information in brackets is specific to the page you're citing. This example shows APA format.


[1]All the examples used in this "Working with Citations" workshop come from Kunkel et al. (1999): Temporal fluctuations in weather and climate extremes that cause economic and human health impacts: A review. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 80, 1077-1098. Citations are bolded to highlight their use.

[Peterson, J. (2004). Plagiarism: What It Is and How to Recognize and Avoid it. Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. Available at https://plagiarism.iu.edu/. Used with permission of the author.

Williams, J. (1980). Lizzie Borden: A Case Book of Family and Crime in the 1890s. Tichenor Publications, Bloomington, IN, p. 1.