Knowing which sources to acknowledge

You should understand the distinction between source materials that require acknowledgment and those that do not. Now that huge amounts of reliable information are available online, conventions regarding acknowledgment, fair use, and source citation are shifting. It is still important, however, to be as careful as possible in providing citations so that your readers will know where you got your information.

Materials that do not require acknowledgment

If you are not sure whether a fact, an observation, or a piece of information requires acknowledgment, err on the side of safety, and cite the source.

Materials that require acknowledgment

For material that does not fall under the preceding categories, credit sources as fully as possible. Follow the conventions of the citation style you are using, and include each source in a bibliography or list of works cited.

Here is a quick-reference chart to guide you in deciding whether or not you need to acknowledge a source:

NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE DON’T NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE
  • quotations
  • paraphrases or summaries of a source
  • ideas you glean from a source
  • little-known or disputed facts
  • graphs, tables, and other statistical information from a source
  • photographs, visuals, video, or sound taken from sources
  • experiments conducted by others
  • interviews that are not part of a survey
  • organization or structure taken from a source
  • help or advice from an instructor or another student
  • your own ideas expressed in your own words
  • your own observations, surveys, and findings from field research you conduct yourself
  • common knowledge—facts known to most readers
  • drawings and other visuals, audio recordings, video, and any other materials you create on your own
  • facts available in many reliable sources, whether or not they are common knowledge