Whenever you quote or base your ideas on another person's work, you must document the source you used. Even when you do not quote directly from another work, if reading that source contributed to the ideas presented in your paper, you must give the authors proper credit.
Citations allow readers to locate and further explore the sources you consulted, show the depth and scope of your research, and give credit to authors for their ideas. Citations provide evidence for your arguments and add credibility to your work by demonstrating that you have sought out and considered a variety of resources. In written academic work, citing sources is standard practice and shows that you are responding to this person, agreeing with that person, and adding something of your own. Think of documenting your sources as providing a trail for your reader to follow to see the research you performed and discover what led you to your original contribution.
By following these guidelines, you avoid plagiarism, which is a serious violation of the Code of Student Conduct.
The means to identify sources is to provide citations within your text linking appropriate passages to relevant resources consulted or quoted. This can be done through in-text parenthetic notes, footnotes, or endnotes. In addition, a bibliography or list of works cited is almost always placed at the end of your paper. The citation system and format you use will be determined by the citation style assigned.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 6th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2010 (call number: BF76.7.P83 2010, multiple libraries). Official style guide of the American Psychological Association; often preferred in the fields of psychology and many other social sciences.
Zotero is a free software tool that collects, manages, and cites the sources you find during your research.
Download links and user tips are available from this LibGuide: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/zotero
If you have questions or citations not covered by the guides linked to here, consult one of the following official style manuals. If you consult other, less official manuals or online style guides that purport to explain these style, please be aware that these sometimes contain errors which conflict with the official guides or may refer to earlier editions.