Research Paper Resources

One question a lot of people ask is, ‘When do I cite a reference?’  You only need to provide a reference if the information you are presenting is not “common knowledge.”  ‘Well, I didn’t know it,’ you might quip, ‘so how I do know?’  If the information is not found in several sources (whether encyclopediae or books), then it is particular to that author and thus credit must be given where credit is due.  This opens up Pandora’s Box of Plagiarism.  So let’s just hit plagiarism head on and you’ll see when and how to quote or cite.

Because plagiarism is variously (and even rarely) understood, I want to make it as clear as possible as to what I consider plagiarism.  In principle, it is the theft of another person’s work.  The most blatant (and stupid) form is to pass off as your own a whole paper written by somebody else.  The less conspicuous manner is to quote an author word for word without putting that excerpt in quotation marks or giving them any credit whatsoever.  This, too, is plagiarism because you lead the reader to believe these words are your own original thoughts.

I believe the best way to explain plagiarism is to provide you with some examples.  The following is wrong:

1. As one Byzantine Rite scholar observes,

The demand of the Eastern Catholics to be regarded as autonomous, particular Churches, has not been honored by the Roman Curia. The warm, official recognition of the non-Catholic Eastern Churches by Vatican Council II (Unitatis redintegratio 14-18) and publicly shown over the years to their representatives by Pope Paul VI and the spokesmen of the Curia, has not been matched in respect to the Eastern Catholic Churches.

What is wrong about this is that there is no citation given whatsoever.  The indented block quote (which is the correct way) should be followed by one of the following two methods of citation:

• (Option 1) Use a parenthetical note; e.g., (NCE 17:196). This means this is a direct quote taken from the New Catholic Encyclopedia vol. 17, page 196.  If it were a quote from a book or article you have two choices: either use the author’s last name, or a shortened title of the work.  For example, (Stramara 22) or (Eastern Catholics 22).  Option 1 is the easiest.  Note that the original author himself used this method, e.g., (Unitatis redintegratio 14-18); this is a document from Vatican II.  When your source is from the Internet use an abbreviated URL.
• (Option 2)  Use an endnote; e.g., the block quote would be followed by a superscript Arabic numeral (a "1" raised above the last word).  Endnote numbers must be consecutive, and computer programs easily generate them.  The endnotes then are printed at the end of the whole paper and that page is entitled ENDNOTES.  An endnote must contain full bibliographical information. E.g., Atiya, Aziz, History of Eastern Christianity (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1967), 86.  Please use MLA or Turabian style.  I encourage you to also check out the library’s Citation Guide found at http://libguides.rockhurst.edu/CitationGuides.

Use a quotation if the author’s wording is so excellent that you can't say it just as well or even better.  But strive to digest the author’s ideas and put them into your own words.  Using quotes is fine, but don't simply cut and paste a “bunch of quotes,” stringing them together.  Let the reader (in this case instructor) know that you have understood the material and synthesized it, not merely regurgitated it.  If the passage you want to use is four lines or longer when typed out, then it must be put into an indented block quote (use the tab button once or five spaces), and the lines must be single spaced.  If it’s not as long, simply put quotation marks around it.

Re-read the above quote and compare it to this:

2. One Byzantine Rite scholar observes that the request of the Eastern Catholics to be recognized as autonomous, special Churches, has not been honored by the Roman Curia.  The warm, official recognition of the Eastern Orthodox Churches by Vatican II as shown publicly over the years to their representatives by Pope Paul VI and the Roman Curia, has not been matched in respect to the Eastern Catholic Churches.

Not only has the writer failed to give credit where credit is due, he merely substituted a few words: demand/request; regarded/recognized; particular/special etc. You can’t simply change a word here and there; you need to put the whole thing in your own words. This is classical lazy plagiarism.

While quoting is perfectly fine, and even great at times, it is better to paraphrase.  Put the material in your own words.  Here’s an example of how to do it correctly.

3.  Rev. Pospishil, a Byzantine scholar, observes that the demand by Eastern Catholics to be officially recognized as “autonomous,” i.e., self-governing, properly specific Churches with their own particular hierarchy, has not been granted by the Roman magisterium even though this is called for by Vatican II (Orientalium Ecclesarium and Lumen Gentium 13).  While Eastern Orthodox Churches have been accorded official recognition by Pope Paul VI and the Curia (in accordance with Vatican II), the same respect and recognition has not been shown the Eastern Catholic Churches (NCE 17:196).

Here the writer lets us know who the scholar actually is.  Furthermore, she provided some additional information which wasn’t found in the original text (referring the reader to more documents from Vatican II).  Admittedly, she used some of the same terminology, and you’ll find that sometimes that’s inevitable because you need to use precise descriptive words.  She follows up by signaling to the reader, for more or related information see NCE 17:196.

So, example #1) with the appropriate corrections, and example #3) are the two approved ways of conveying information.  If you’re not sure, simply use a parenthetical note or endnote.  Or, feel free to ask for help.

Created by Dr. Daniel F. Stramara, Jr.           21 August 2024