Skip to Main Content

UTSC Sandbox

Writing & Citations

As an academic writer you are required to document the sources of all information you use in your papers, presentations, and projects. Proper citation is used to:

  • give appropriate credit to the author and publisher; 
  • allow your readers to access the sources you used; 
  • avoid plaigirzing someone else's ideas.

By using proper citation, you openly acknowledge where your ideas come from. 

Learn APA Citation Online

Resources for Academic Writing

How Not to Plagiarize

From the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters: It shall be an offence for a student knowingly: (d) to represent as one's own any idea or expression of an idea or work of another in any academic examination or term test or in connection with any other form of academic work, i.e.

Paraphrase and Summary

To paraphrase means to restate someone else's ideas in your own language at roughly the same level of detail. To summarize means to reduce the most essential points of someone else's work into a shorter form. Along with quotation, paraphrase and summary provide the main tools for integrating your sources into your papers.

Using Quotations

The focus of your essay should be on your understanding of the topic. If you include too much quotation in your essay, you will crowd out your own ideas. Consider quoting a passage from one of your sources if any of the following conditions holds: The language of the passage is particularly elegant or powerful or memorable.