Incorporating the ideas of othersAt RRU, anything that you submit for credit is expected to be your work (Royal Roads University, 2019), unless you've indicated otherwise. In this context, approaching your work with integrity means that you will use your own words to express your ideas.
Nonetheless, as you will learn throughout this module and your courses, there are many good reasons to include the ideas and words of others in your assignments. Telling others where you have gathered your information demonstrates the importance of these sources to your learning and your relationships with those works—it is a way of respecting the others before you and showing gratitude for their work (Gladue, 2020, p.8). Citations tell your reader that someone else's idea is important to you because it helped you learn about or better understand something you did not think about entirely on your own.
Citing means sharing information with your audience that tells them who the original author was and helping them locate information in the references that will lead them to the resource you used in your research. It is important to cite your sources correctly so as to avoid taking credit from others for their words or ideas, even by mistake!
At Royal Roads University, you will be expected to use APA Style (7th edition) to cite your work unless you're directed otherwise by your instructor(s). There are three examples of APA in-text citations in this section: one to Royal Roads University in the first paragraph, another to Gladue's resource in the second paragraph, and a third to Gladue in the final paragraph below. You can also see below the reference list that provides full information on those in-text citations.
Citations credit someone else for their role in your learning, and help others learn about that person as well. Naming your sources allows others to further their own learning as they read about the process you followed to improve your thinking on a topic and communicate your ideas. By using citations to share what you have learned, you are helping your audience trust you—they will see that you aren't making up facts, but that you have instead made an effort to learn from others about the issues that interest you.
The resources linked below help explain the importance of academic integrity from an Indigenous perspective, which focuses on the values of "relationality, reciprocity, and respect" (Gladue, 2020, p.3). It's our hope that we've reflected those values in this explanation of why citations are important and that you'll keep them in mind as you approach your own research and writing.
References
Royal Roads University. (2019). Academic integrity and misconduct. https://www.royalroads.ca/sites/default/files/2021-12/2017Feb08-AcademicIntegrity-Students.pdf
Gladue, K. (2020). Indigenous academic integrity. Taylor Institute, University of Calgary. https://taylorinstitute.ucalgary.ca/sites/default/files/Content/Resources/Academic-Integrity/21-TAY-Indigenous-Academic-Integrity.pdf
Image by Observations? Science needs your data www.inaturalist.org from Pixabay
There are lots of decisions involved when determining if you've plagiarized information. Try the interactive module to help identify those decisions, and for the best experience, click on the arrows in the top left corner to view it in full screen. For an alternative format, refer to the flowchart below. For a PowerPoint version with active hyperlinks, please see Plagiarism Flowchart.
The Writing Centre has the APA Style (7th ed.) guide that includes introductory videos, interactive exercises, checklists, and more! As a starting point, see the Introduction to APA Style (7th ed.) video below. You can jump to In-Text Citations if that's the information that is most useful to you right now:
This video will provide you with an introduction to the APA Style (7th ed.) rules. The video will start automatically in browsers where autoplay of audio is enabled. If the video doesn't immediately begin, click the pause button and then click play. While the video is playing, click "Outline" to navigate through the presentation or "Notes" to see the transcript.
If you would like to return to specific sections of the video, please see below:
Click on Introduction to APA Style (PowerPoint) if you would like the slides from the video; the transcript is available via the slide notes. If you are working in Chrome and the PowerPoint doesn't download, please try in a different browser.
Search WriteAnswers for FAQs on your topic:
Can't find what you need?
RRU community members can use the button below to send your questions directly to the Writing Centre. We'll send you a private reply as soon as we can (typically within one business day of receiving the message).
