Citing the literature is essential in scholarly writing.
- By citing you make clear that the information you used comes from another source.
- You cite in such a way that the reader can track down the source. He can check your presentation of the information. He can also find more information in the source if he wants to do so.
You can present information which comes from another source in two ways: you can do it in your own words (paraphrasing) or you can quote. You normally paraphrase, quotations should be used sparsely. If you quote you must make it clear for the reader that he is reading a quotation. You do this by using quotation marks or by making a block quotation and by mentioning the page(s) where the quotation is to be found in the source.
