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Eng 1A - Reading and Composition: Citing Sources

Research guide for students in English 1A

Why Cite Your Sources?

Citing Sources is more than just creating a Bibliography!  Whenever you use another person's language, ideas, or other original content, you need to acknowledge this both within the body of your paper using in-text citations and at the end of your paper in the bibliography or reference page. You must give the proper credit to the original source to avoid plagiarism.

Citing sources is also the best way to show the research you have done on your topic.

The way you document your sources depends on the writing style manual your professor wants you to use for the class (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.), and is usually specific to your discipline or area of study.

ECC Library Citation Guide Handouts

The guide linked below was developed by your ECC librarians and provide examples on how to cite a variety of sources using a variety of popular citation styles used in courses at El Camino including: MLA, APA, Chicago, ASA and Case Law.

Most English classes at ECC are using MLA format.

Reading Citations

MLA Example from LMU's Citation Style guide