Working with Sources

Evaluating Sources

  • Evaluating Sources of Information (Purdue): All sources aren't created equal. Purdue's Online Writing Lab offers these valuable tips for evaluating the sources and informational content you encounter.
  • Evaluating Digital Sources (Purdue): Just because it's online doesn't mean it's good. Purdue's Online Writing Lab helps you sort the wheat from the chaff.

Incorporating Sources

  • Quotations (Duke): This guide will help you decide when to quote and when to paraphrase and explains the basic mechanics of incorporating quotations.
  • Paraphrase: Write It in Your Own Words (Purdue): Do you find yourself wanting to put text in your own words, but the original source says it so much better? Purdue's Online Writing Lab provides some strategies for effective paraphrasing without plagiarizing.
  • Whose Idea Was That? Examining the Importance of Citations at the University (Duke): Created by a Duke student, this short video features student and faculty perspectives on the significance of citation within academic research, as well as practical advice for students about citing effectively and accurately.
  • Using Statistics (Purdue): Numbers don't speak for themselves. Here's advice on how to use statistics effectively.
  • How to Read a Primary Source (Bowdoin): This website offers broad guidance for writing about history, but it includes a helpful section (2b) that includes tips for what kinds of questions to ask when evaluating a primary source. 

Avoiding Plagiarism

  • Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism (Duke): Duke University Libraries' detailed guide to avoiding plagiarism explains warning signs and provides citation information for MLA, APA, Turabian, and Chicago Manual of Style formats.

Citation Guides

  • APA Documentation (Duke): APA documentation style is used in the social and behavioral sciences, including government, psychology, and sociology.
  • Chicago Manual of Style Author-Date System (Duke): The Chicago author-date documentation style is used in social sciences and sciences.
  • Chicago Manual of Style Notes System (Duke): Chicago documentation style is used in the humanities.
  • Citing Sources (Duke): Duke Library provides examples of in-text and bibliographic citations for the most common types of sources using MLA (old), Turabian, APA, Chicago Manual of Style, and CSE formats.
  • MLA Documentation (Duke): MLA is a documentation style commonly used in the liberal arts and humanities (except history).

EndNote Software

  • EndNote and RefWorks software helps you keep track of bibliographic information and research notes. Also, these personal online databases format citations in the style of your choice. The Duke Library offers free classes to help you learn how to use each of these databases.