Students sometimes find citation rules confusing, so they ask us why the citation process is necessary. There are several reasons why your instructors ask you to cite. The simplest answer is that you are asked to cite to verify that you did the research, but there's much more to it than that! Read on to learn some of the reasons why citation is expected in academia.
Imagine investing half a semester into crafting a research paper, only to have someone else claim it as their own. Your frustration would be justified! Your effort and time are valuable, both for your grades and your reputation among peers and instructors. In some cases, your work might even have potential monetary value.
Citing sources isn't just about giving credit; it's about acknowledging the worth of others' contributions and the potential financial value attached to their work. Failure to cite robs them of all those forms of value. It's not fair, and it's not allowed in academia.
For hundreds of years, academics have been engaged in a never-ending conversation with one another through their writings. Every time scholars publish, they are either introducing new ideas, building on the ideas of others, or critiquing the work of others as part of this conversation. After they publish their own work, other scholars have the opportunity to read what they wrote and then do the same, further contributing to the conversation. Scholarly journals exist to help scholars find each other's work and take part in this ongoing conversation.
As a student, you are a scholar. You are now participating in this great conversation. By citing the work of others, you acknowledge its value. However, you also connect your work to the work of other scholars and demonstrate how your work fits in the larger, academic conversation. This helps your readers understand the background of your ideas and conclusions. It also helps them understand how to build upon them.
As a student, you lack expertise on most of the topics you research. That's okay. Every single expert was once a student! However, without expertise, it's difficult for you to speak or write on a topic with authority. The solution? You borrow the authority of experts by incorporating their ideas into your work and citing the authors. By doing so, you are able to borrow a little bit of their authority, and your work carries greater significance.
If you fail to provide citations, your reader cannot recognize the authority of the information you provide. Instead, it seems as if you are simply providing your opinions or conjecture. So, make sure you cite your sources to gain authority.
Because information has value, using it without giving due credit to its creator is a form of theft. In academia, and in many other industries, plagiarism has serious consequences. As a scholar, if you are found guilty of plagiarism, you risk your reputation and loss of respect from peers and instructors. It may also lead to repercussions like grade reduction, class expulsion, or academic suspension from MCC. Furthermore, breaches of academic integrity may be documented in your record and shared with other institutions, potentially impacting your admission to bachelor's, master's, or PhD programs.
The college's Academic Integrity Policy explains the school's rules, including those on academic honestly. It includes a section on plagiarism:
“Plagiarism” includes, but [is] not limited to:
The consequences for policy violations can vary, potentially including penalties up to academic suspension. Please take time to review the full Academic Integrity Policy on the college's website.
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