✏️ WritingGrade 4Lesson 23
← Back🔒 PDF with full access

Use Citations and Give Credit

Lesson preview: the Mini Lesson and Vocabulary are open to everyone. Guided practice, exercises, the parent checklist and the printable PDF worksheet come with full access (free 7-day trial or membership).

Learning Objectives

  • 1Explain why giving credit to sources is important
  • 2Write a citation in the correct format for a book and a website
  • 3Sort sources correctly as needing or not needing a citation
📘

Mini Lesson

Whenever you use information, ideas, images, or words that are not your own, you must give credit to the person who created them. This is called citing your sources. Failing to do so is called plagiarism — presenting someone else's work as your own.

Why Citations Matter

  • They show respect for the original creator's work.
  • They let readers find the original source to learn more.
  • They prove that your research is based on real, verifiable facts.
  • They protect you from being accused of plagiarism.

Citation Formats

  • Book: Author Last, First. (Year). Title in Italics. Publisher.
  • Website: Author / Organization. (Year). Page title. URL. Date accessed.
  • In-text citation: write (Author, Year) after a fact or quote — e.g. (Smith, 2021).

What Needs a Citation?

  • Always cite: facts from a book or website, direct quotes, statistics, images made by others.
  • No citation needed: common knowledge everyone knows, your own original ideas and opinions, personal experiences you observed.

Where Do Citations Go?

  • In-text citations appear right after a quote or fact in the body of the text.
  • Full citations appear in a bibliography or references list at the end of the report.
How to Write a CitationA guide showing book and website citation formats, where citations go in a report, and a practice line for filling in the parts.How to Write a CitationBook Citation FormatAuthor Last, First. (Year).Title in Italics. Publisher.Website Citation FormatAuthor / Organization. (Year).Page title. URL. Date accessed.Where Do Citations Go?In-text citationAfter a quote or factBibliography / ReferencesEnd of the reportPractice: Fill in the citationAuthor: ___ Year: ___ Title: ___ Publisher: ___Give credit to avoid plagiarism
Citation formats and where they belong.
Needs a Citation vs No CitationFour side-by-side comparisons of what needs a citation (facts from a book, quotes, statistics, others' diagrams) versus what does not (common knowledge, original ideas, personal experience, your own diagrams).Needs a Citation vs No CitationNeeds a CitationNo Citation NeededA fact from a bookor websiteCommon knowledgeeveryone knowsA direct quotefrom an authorYour own originalideas or opinionsStatistics or researchdata from a sourcePersonal experiencesyou observed yourselfAn image or diagrammade by someone elseDiagrams or imagesyou created yourselfWhat is Plagiarism?Using someone else's words or ideaswithout giving them creditWhen in doubt, always cite the source
When to credit a source — and when you do not have to.
💡

Tip: When in doubt, cite the source. It is always safer to give credit than to leave it out.

Vocabulary
citation
A note that tells where information came from.e.g. He included a citation after each quoted fact.
source
The book, article, or website where you found information.e.g. List every source you used in your research.
plagiarism
Using someones work without giving them credit.e.g. Copying without a citation is plagiarism.
credit
Recognition given to the original creator of an idea or text.e.g. Always give credit to your sources.
author
The person who wrote a book or article.e.g. Citations begin with the authors last name.
reference list
A list of all sources used in a piece of writing.e.g. The reference list goes at the end of the report.
Free · 7 days · No credit card

Unlock the full HSEA system for 7 days.

Add your first kid profile and your 7 days start: every lesson in every grade, saved progress for each child. Nothing to set up, no card required, nothing to cancel.

  • ✓ All 1,680 lessons, Grades 1–6, every subject
  • ✓ Profiles + saved progress for every kid
  • ✓ Printable lessons with answer key
Start your 7-day free trial →
Already convinced? See full membership plans →
← Lesson 22: Create Persuasive Essays with ArgumentsLesson 24: Present Research to an Audience →