REQUIRED RESEARCH SKILLS

TIPS FOR A FULL-CREDIT ESSAY…

REPEAT AFTER ME… “If I fail to include

BOTH in-text citations AND a works cited page,

I will earn a ZERO for this essay

because if sources are not cited,

I’m guilty of PLAGIARISM!”

An in-text citation is the giving of credit WITHIN YOUR PARAGRAPHS following each source used.

According to Jones, the brain is "The most complex system we have yet discovered in our universe“ (“Brain Science”). Researchers have discovered there may be as many as 100 billion neurons in the brain and possibly as many as one trillion cells (“Mapping the Brain”). A recent discovery revealed that “the first three years of a child’s life are crucial to the development of the brain” and can dictate future brain potential and processes (“Understanding the Human Brain”).

(*article titles require quotation marks).(*the period belongs OUTSIDE the parenthesis).

WHAT ARE IN-TEXT CITATIONS?

Directly borrowed words/sentencesAccording to Jones, the brain is "The most complex system we have yet discovered in our universe“ (“Brain Science”).*Directly borrowed words/sentences require quotation marks.

Paraphrased ideasAccording to Jones, the brain is as complicated as anything else known on earth (“Brain Science”).*Paraphrased words/sentences DON’T require quotation marks but DO REQUIRE in-text citation!

WHAT MUST I CITE?

HOW MUCH CAN I BORROW?

LIMIT directly quoted text support to 2 consecutive sentences.

Your essay must show what YOU can write while being supported by textual support.

It is NOT an exercise in copying and pasting!

(*FYI… commonly known facts do not require citation. For example, Plato was a Greek philosopher does NOT

require citation.)

INTRODUCE ALL TEXT SUPPORT!You MUST INTRODUCE all borrowed words and

ideas!A borrowed fact/quotation CANNOT STAND ALONE.Your job is to use the borrowed ideas to support YOUR OWN argument.

Some Sanskrit scholars view the setting as “an allegory for the ethical and moral struggles of human life” (“Analysis of Krishna and Arjuna”).

Gandhi referred to the Gita as his “spiritual dictionary” (“Influential Texts”).

David McKenzie, Eastern religions scholar, acknowledges that Jainism and Buddhism arose “in protest against the beliefs of the Vedas and the complex Hindu rituals of sacrifice” (“Religions in India”).

RECAP…Commonly known concepts do not require citation.Introduce ALL borrowed words/sentences.Limit direct quotations to 2 consecutive sentences.Direct quotations require quotation marks. Follow ALL borrowed words/sentences with an

in-text citation.Paraphrased ideas do not take quotation marks. Follow ALL paraphrased words/sentences/ideas

with an in-text citation. (Re-wording an idea does NOT make it yours!)

Article titles require quotation marks.The period belongs OUTSIDE the parenthesis.Without in-text citations, you will earn a ZERO for plagiarism!