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*The Research Process: A Guide for GWC Students

Use library resources to locate and evaluate information for your class assignments.

What Does 'Citing' Mean?

cite: Refer to (a passage, book, or author) as evidence for or justification of an argument or statement, especially in a scholarly work.

“Cite.” English Oxford Living Dictionaries, Oxford University, 2018, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/cite.

What does that mean for you as a student?

Each school subject may have a different 'style' of citing that you need to use to justify your argument. Also, you need to cite to show your instructors where you got your evidence.

There are two ways you need to cite sources in your research*:

  1. In the text (or body) of the paper when a source is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized (in-text citations).
  2. In an alphabetical list at the end of the paper (Works Cited in MLA or References in APA).

*Your research includes any speeches, presentations, discussion posts, or papers that you produce using outside sources.

Video: "Citation: A (Very) Brief Introduction"

Creating a Hanging Indent - Videos and Instructions

Do not use the space bar or tabs to line up citations in your document! Use a 'Hanging Indent'.

A hanging indent is required for your citations (Works Cited or References pages) when you use MLA or APA style citations.

For more explanations of these methods, please see the videos in the playlist below or click on the tabs above for step-by-step instructions.

Google Docs.

In Google Docs you will need to use the 'ruler' to set up your page for a hanging indent. Here is what that looks like:

Create a hanging indent in Google Docs: Show ruler; Select all citations; Click and drag triangle to half inch; Click and drag rectangle back to left margin

Steps to creating a hanging indent in Google Docs:

  1. Make sure to 'Show Ruler'.
  2. Select all citations.
  3. Click and drag the triangle to the half inch (0.50) mark.
  4. Click and drag the rectangle back to the left margin (0.00).

Microsoft Word.

In Microsoft Word you may also use the 'ruler' OR (easier) use the paragraph tab to format the indentation and line spacing:

Hanging Indent using MS Word

Steps to creating a hanging indent in Microsoft Word:

  1. Select all citations.
  2. Click open 'Paragraph Settings' Menu.
  3. Select 'Special' in the Indentation Section.
    1. Choose 'Hanging.'
  4. Line Spacing is 'Double.'
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