Citation is an argument, not a formality
Students learn citation as a set of punctuation rules. It is better understood as the way a paper shows its reasoning, and the reason academic integrity is not optional.
- CompetiLab Editorial
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Ask a student why we cite and the answer is usually "so you don't get accused of plagiarism." That is true, and it is the least interesting reason.
What a citation does
A citation makes a claim traceable. When you write "urban heat islands raise night-time temperatures by several degrees" and cite a source, you are telling the reader: I did not make this up, here is where it comes from, and you can check whether I have represented it fairly. Every citation is a small act of accountability.
Citations also locate your work. The references you choose tell a reader which conversation you are joining, whose methods you trust, and which findings you consider settled. A paper on biosensors that cites no work from the last five years is making a statement, whether it intends to or not.
And citations distribute credit. Research is cumulative. The person who first measured something deserves to be named when you build on it, in the same way you would want to be named.
When to cite
Cite when you state a fact that is not common knowledge, when you use someone's method or data, when you paraphrase an argument, and whenever you quote. Do not cite for things everyone in the field knows, and do not pad a paragraph with references you have not read.
Cite what you actually used. If you learned about a 2015 study from a 2023 review, cite the review, or go and read the 2015 study and cite it directly. Citing a paper you have only seen summarized is a common and quietly dishonest shortcut.
Choosing a style
Disciplines have conventions: APA in psychology and education, Chicago in history, numbered styles in many sciences, and journal-specific variants everywhere. The style does not matter much; consistency and completeness do. Pick the one your target venue uses, and use a reference manager from the first day so you never have to reconstruct a bibliography from memory.
Academic integrity, plainly
Plagiarism is presenting someone else's words, ideas, data or images as your own. It includes copying with small changes, reusing your own earlier work without saying so, and generating text with a tool and submitting it as your writing. Fabrication is inventing data or results. Falsification is altering them. All three end academic careers, and all three are avoidable by the same habit: write down where everything came from, as you go.
Begin with a question.
Tell us what a student cannot stop thinking about. We will suggest where it could go.