Plagiarism

Citations, Footnotes and Bibliographies

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What are citations/footnotes/bibliographies?

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Citations and footnotes are very similar, and often it is best to just stick to footnotes if you are unsure.

Both of these go at the end of quotes, paraphrasing, references to theories and ideas, or sentences that include any reference to other people's work, including statistics.

A citation is generally only used to provide a link or reference to where the information came from (e.g. 'pg 29', or a website link). Take a look at this page for more information on citations.

A footnote can also be used to include a lot more information, such as follow up notes on your point which might be useful to the reader. Although the information will also be linked and (hopefully) relevant to the sentence or paragraph it follows, it does not necessarily need to be from another source. Terry Pratchett was the 'master' of using footnotes and sometimes (as a joke) used up a whole page on one! This is not recommended for your academic work! Take a look at this page for more information on footnotes.

It is very easy to insert footnotes and citations using Word (or Pages on a Mac). Just look for the 'insert footnote' or 'insert citation' button on the toolbar. Place your cursor at the end of your quote, sentence or paragraph and click the button. This will automatically create a number and move your typing cursor to the bottom of the page where you can add the related information. It automatically updates numbers for you, so if you add another footnote in above that one later on, it will renumber everything to match.

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A bibliography is a full list of all the sources, of any kind, which you used as part of your research to complete your essay or assignment, and this goes at the very end of your work. This includes all the details about that source which a reader would need to know in order to find it again, including the name(s) of the author(s), the publishers and publication date, or the website link and the date you viewed it, or the details of the production company if it's a film, etc. Take a look at this site for more information on bibliographies.

There are different ways to lay out bibliographies, so you will need to check with your teacher as to the method preferred for their subject. However, they all usually contain the same types of information.

The most common format of a bibliography is known as the Harvard layout. A very useful site to help you with this can be found by clicking here; click on the type of source you need to create a bibliography for (or scroll down the page), and then 'Click here to see examples' so that you can follow the appropriate layout.

You can also use Microsoft Word to help you build your bibliography - take a look at the video below for more information on how:

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Do I have to use them all?

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The answer to this will depend on what your subject requires, but it is a good idea to get used to using them all, particularly if you intend to continue with academic or research studies after college. At the very least, you should be using footnotes and bibliographies.

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