Which formatting style you use will depend upon your instructor.  Carefully read the directions for all assignments to determine which style to use. 

APA (American Psychological Association) is most often used to cite sources within the social sciences.

MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.

What is Citing?  Click here to learn about citing and why it is important in your academic papers.

MLA Style Online Guides

GNTC MLA Citation Style and Formatting LibGuide- a brief guide to MLA style.

Purdue OWL: MLA Style- a good overview of MLA style.  Addresses the most common rules of MLA.  Provides sample MLA papers.

Research and Documentation Online's MLA Citation Style and Formatting Guide - provides an overview of MLA Style, how and when to use it, and a sample of a formatted and cited paper.

MLA Handbooks & Guides

Click on a title to check its availability at your GNTC campus library.

APA Style Online Guides

GNTC APA Citation Style and Formatting LibGuide- a brief guide to APA style.

Purdue OWL: APA Style- a good overview of APA style.  Addresses the most common rules of APA.  Provides sample APA papers.

Research and Documentation Online's APA Citation Style and Formatting Guide - provides an overview of APA Style, how and when to use it, and a sample of a formatted and cited paper.

APA Handbooks & Guides

Click on a title to check its availability at your GNTC campus library.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious offense in schools. By not citing (or writing down the author and title where you got information), you are stealing other people's ideas. If your instructor discovers it, you can face severe penalties, including at the least, failure of the assignment or if not the class. Many schools include suspension or expulsion for severe enough plagiarism. To better understand the consequences for this academic misconduct, look at the Student Handbook. To avoid this, always cite the sources from which you summarize, paraphrase, or quote.

Georgia Northwestern Technical College's Student Handbook defines plagiarism as the following:

1. Submitting another's published or unpublished work in whole, in part or in paraphrase, as one's own without fully and properly crediting the author with footnotes, quoation marks, citations, or bibliographical reference.
2. Submitting as one's own original work, material obtained from an individual or agency without reference to the person or agency as the source of the work.
3. Submitting as one's own original work material that has been produced through unacknowledged collaboration with others without release in writing from collaborators (41).