Research

It is important to appropriately cite sources and use information in an ethical way. If you have questions, consult a librarian or your professor.

Why we cite:

• To give credit to ideas that are not your own
• To provide support for your argument
• To enable your reader to find and read the sources you used
• To avoid plagiarism and violations of the Academic Honesty Policy

Always cite words, ideas, data, or images from any source, including generative AI tools, books, articles, the Internet, members of the faculty, or another student.

ProQuest databases, BuildingGreen.com, and many other databases and websites will provide citations for you. You can usually select your preferred citation style (APA, MLA, etc.) when saving, printing, or emailing an article. However, you should always double-check because the auto-generators do make mistakes!

There are also a number of citation managers that can help you organize and format your citations:

• Zotero is a free browser extension designed to help you collect, organize, cite, and share research
• Citation Machine is a free website designed to generate APA citations
• EasyBib is a free website designed to generate MLA citations