Citing your sources can protect you from charges of academic misconduct and dishonesty. The following statement from the CT State Student Handbook provides a partial definition of academic misconduct. For more information, please review the complete CT State Student Handbook.

"Academic misconduct, which includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism and all forms of cheating.
Plagiarism is defined as the submission of work by a student for academic credit as one’s own work of authorship which contains work of another author without appropriate attribution.
Cheating includes, but is not limited to: (i) use of any unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes, tests or examinations; (ii) use of sources beyond those authorized by the instructor in writing papers, preparing reports, solving problems or carrying out other assignments; (iii) the acquisition, without permission, of tests or other academic material belonging to a member of the University faculty or staff; and (iv) engaging in any other behavior specifically prohibited by a faculty member in the course syllabus." (p. 65)

There are many citation styles used in academic writing, each with its own guidelines for formatting papers and projects and citing sources to give appropriate credit to authors for their ideas and work. The two most commonly used citation styles are MLA (Modern Language Association) and APA (American Psychological Association). Ask your professor if you are not sure which one to use for your assignments.

For more information on citation styles and avoiding plagiarism check out our citation guides: