ACC Library Study Guides: Documentation & Plagiarism 

There are several specific styles of documentation, but all have the same idea: When you borrow another's information, you explicitly say in your paper what is borrowed and where it is from. (See examples in the box below.)

Use "quotation marks" and document your source when you use another writer's exact words.

You also need to document when you borrow ideas. You are still borrowing ideas from another author if you change some of the words, which is called "paraphrasing." If you fail to document paraphrased writing, you will be guilty of plagiarism.

A bibliography or Works Cited listing is a complete list of sources --- books, articles, web pages, email, interviews, videos, lectures, etc. --- that you used in preparing you paper. It appears at the end of your writing.

Remember, by documenting your sources, you will protect yourself from charges of plagiarism.

Common knowledge requires no documentation:

Clouds are composed of water or ice particles.

Quotations require documentation:

"Evidence is accumulating that human activities are influencing clouds in ways that can in turn influence the environment" (Ghan 171).

Work Cited

Ghan, Stephen. "Clouds." Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather. Ed. Stephen H. Schneider. 2 vols. New York: Oxford, 1996. Print.

Paraphrasing requires documentation:

There's growing evidence that the activities of humans have an effect on clouds and thus the environment (Ghan 171).

Work Cited

Ghan, Stephen. "Clouds." Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather. Ed. Stephen H. Schneider. 2 vols. New York: Oxford, 1996. Print.

One of the hardest parts of documentation is deciding how far to go in documenting sources. If you mention that Los Angeles suffered an earthquake in January 1994, do you have to show where that information came from? No. Even if you didn't really know that for sure on your own. This is considered "common knowledge."

This can get tricky. When in doubt it is probably a good idea to include the documentation. Ask a librarian or your instructor for advice on specific situations.