Which Types of Facts Must Be Cited in an Essay?

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to the general rules of academic writing, students and scholars must cite the used sources of information in order to demonstrate their respect towards the work of other authors. When you write a college essay, you should apply citation too. One must cite the idea or quotation of the definite author if this information is used in his essay. The problem of citation has become so urgent and popular that many students are confused, as they do not know which types of facts must be cited or not.

1. Why Should We Cite Our Essays? Many students do not understand why they should cite their college and university essays. The answer is very simple. They should respect the work of other scholars who have devoted long months of their life to scientific writing. Furthermore, students must know about the policy of anti-plagiarism. Every academic paper is supposed to be completely original. When a student uses information from various sources without citing them, this action is treated like theft. Information is property. You cannot use it whenever you want without the agreement of its owner. When you use someone’s original ideas in your scientific research, this person is able to accuse you of plagiarism. The consequences of this accusation can be very tragic for your academic career.
2. What Types of Information Do not Need Citing? We do not need to cite the facts that belong to the heritage of our rich language. When you use proverbs and other stable phraseological constructions, you do not have to cite them since everyone uses them in everyday life. Our ancestors brainstormed these proverbs and popular expressions and we cannot define the author of these words. When the author is unknown, we do not know whom to thank.
3. Cite Fiction. If you study language and literature, you know that every piece of prose, lyrics and drama should be cited carefully. You ought to cite every line of Shakespeare’s tragedies if you use them for the development of your essay. When you analyze a novel written by Charles Dickens, you should point at the edition of the book you used for writing.
4. Cite the Authors of Scientific Publications. When you write an informative or argumentative essay about solid and serious problems, you need to support your point of view with the arguments and counterarguments that can be found in the scientific monographs and sets of work of different authors. You should cite the page and the book if you use a monograph. When you take advantage of one article from a scientific journal or any other publication, you should mention the title of this article and the title of the source. It is very important whereas the same article can appear in different publications. The reader should know the exact source used for analysis. Such pieces of information as dates, explanations and facts require citation. When you extract a sentence from the work of another author and use it in your essay, you are expected to cite it.
5. Cite Dictionaries and Encyclopedias. It may sound weird but you should cite every dictionary used for the explanation of any terms and unknown words and expressions. Moreover, you should cite the dictionaries of foreign languages. Do not neglect this piece of advice inasmuch as every dictionary provides the reader with the different translation of foreign words. Consequently, you ought to specify the source used for the translation of the particular word or text. Secondly, every encyclopedia explains different terms, phenomena and events differently. When you write about the natural disasters and their impact, you should mention the title of the encyclopedia that provides you with the definition of tsunami, earthquake or flood. Although such solid books are written by numerous authors, you should still show your gratitude to them.

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