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English Composition

This guide was created to support EN 1113 (English Composition II), EN 1173 (Accelerated English Composition II), and EN 1113 H (Honors English Composition II).

About This Guide

Why is citing important?

  • Citing is about intellectual honesty

  • Required in academia​

  • Essential to retain integrity​

  • Connects to previous research.

  • Adds to the collective knowledge.

  • Assists future researchers

  • Credits others for their ideas

  • Defines the ideas that are unique.​

  • Gives your ideas authority​.

By presenting another’s ideas, information, expressions, images, or whole work without proper credit to the creator one commits plagiarism.  Use the guides for MLA, Chicago, or APA to cite your sources.  If you need help with other citation styles, you can visit the Citation Guide.

***WATCH OUT FOR CITATION GENERATORS***

Most databases provide sample citations drawn from standard templates, in many of the styles demonstrated in this guide. Citation Management Software and websites (EndNote, Zotero, Mendeley) and generators such as Citation Machine and EasyBib also will auto-generate citations. In many cases the citations may have mistakes. In addition, artificial intelligence tools using Large Language Models (LLM) such as ChatGPT can generate false citations using legitimate author names and journal titles. Any generated citation you use should be checked for accuracy before you turn in your work.  Many of the online resources on the library website will provide computer-generated citations in different styles for you to use in a works cited page or bibliography. WARNING: be sure to double-check these citations for errors.  You will need to look at the format, punctuation, and information to verify everything is correct before turning your paper in!

Note on Citing AI-Generated Test (e.g. ChatGBT)

As OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Bard, Adobe's Firefly, and other large-language model (LLM) artificial intelligence text generators see more frequent use, ethical questions relating to citation and academic integrity inevitably arise. The following steps are a good start in using AI responsibly:

  • AI tools cannot consent to publication, sign contracts, or take resposibility for accuracy of content; therefore they cannot be named as a "co-author."
  • Text generated using AI tools must be documented using proper citation methods; please see the specific citation style tabs in the Citation Guides for examples.
  • You as the author are ultimately responsible for the validity and accuracy of any text generated by AI. Fact check the text against reliable sources before using!

For more information on AI Text and academic publishing, see "Taylor & Francis Clarifies the Responsible use of AI Tools in Academic Content Creation."

Other Helpful Resources:

You can always use Owl Purdue to help you format citations and your paper correctly too.

To cite sources in speeches, this guide from USM's Southern Miss Speaking Center will help.