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Advice on Academic Best Practices Dr. George Corliss, MU EECE |
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Scholarship: Crediting Your Sources
Purpose of this page: Communicate expectations for scholarship (= citing your sources). See also
In any scholarly writing, it should be clear to whom each idea belongs. We often say jokingly, "It cannot be plagiarism if you credit your sources." Your employer will expect you to construct answers as rapidly and carefully as possible, and finding the answer somewhere is often the best way. However, when you do so, it is important that your reader be able to tell which ideas are yours, which belong to someone else, and to whom the other ideas belong. It is wrong to give the impression, even implicitly, that someone else's work is really your own. When I say a paragraph like that of vague generalities at home, my kids turn to my wife and say, "Could you translate that into English for us?" Translation. In any work that you do, it should be clear to your reader which ideas are yours, and which came from someone else. If the idea came from someone else, it should be clear to your reader where to go to read the original. The two most common methods of doing that in the mathematical sciences literature are
Jennifer Niederst with Edie Freedman,How should you format references? One excellent source is the MLA Manual of Style, see owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html You should refer to our text. You are welcome to use other materials, especially the literature you are assigned to read. You are encouraged to discuss your answers with your friends, classmates, or with me. You are expected to write your own assignments, and you should state clearly the sources of ideas that you copied, read, or heard. Include bibliographic citations when appropriate. If a solution represents the joint work of several class members, you should say say so. Why Do We Cite Sources?Different cultures have different traditions about intellectual property. Our tradition holds strongly to a tradition of personal ownership. If you create something, what you create belongs to you. You have the right to control how it is used. You can sell it, give it away, or allow restricted use as you wish. You do not want to let others use your work without your permission. It follows that you cannot use their work without their permission.Citing the source of your ideas add, not subtracts, from your credibility. You have told your reader that you have done your homework by being familiar with relevant literature, so you should know what you are talking about. You also let your reader know that the cited information comes from someone who may be more expert than you, and that it has been validated by a peer review process. Citing your sources is also a matter of justice for the original authors. The writer of a song or a movie receives a royalty each time the work is performed as payment for the creative effort. Scientists are not paid that way (fortunately, or we would be hungry). One small payment we receive is when someone acknowledges finding something useful in what we have written. Your citation pays me, while costing you nothing. Good deal, no? Citing your sources also reflects your own self-interest. During your career, you will be a net creator of intellectual property. You trust that you will be paid, rewarded, cited, etc. by people using YOUR work. You should treat the work of others as you expect others to treat your work. If I took one of your homework assignments, put my name on it, and published it as a journal article or sold it to a consulting client, you would be justifiable offended, no? Other creators of intellectual property feel the same. Give them credit where credit is due. Add ValueSometimes it seems that students in my classes pass through several stages of realization:
See also ACM Code of Ethics includes clause 1.6 Give proper credit for intellectual property.
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