Academic honesty is the foundation of any intellectual community. It is about being an ethical member of a scholarly and intellectual community, based on the core values of honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage. It means being honest about and in your own work and acknowledging the contributions of others to that work and to the development of your ideas. It’s also about having the courage to take intellectual risks! Academic honesty is thus about much more than simply not cheating on examinations or not plagiarizing others’ work. Nonetheless, you should familiarize yourself with the LMU Academic Honesty Policy and Procedures and the possible penalties for violations. And you should also learn how to cite sources correctly! Here are some resources.
General Citation Resources
Chicago Style
Different disciplines employ different practices and styles when it comes to citation. In some courses with me (e.g., First Year Seminars, 1000-level Historical Analysis & Perspectives courses), you may cite sources using the style in which you are most comfortable and that makes the most sense for your major. But if you are a History major or in an upper-division History course, then you should learn how to cite sources in the Chicago style, which is the standard in the discipline of History.
- The Chicago Manual of Style Online
- OWL’s Chicago Style Guide
- Turabian Quick Guide (Turabian is a simplified version of Chicago style)
- Chicago/Turabian Style Tutorial – This is a great tutorial for how to cite sources in Chicago/Turabian style; it’s designed for Art History courses but works just as well for History. It also includes some tips about how to do footnotes in Word, in addition to the video tutorial below.
Zotero
Zotero is a free, open-source citation management system. Consider downloading it to use as a (searchable) database where you can store your sources. The browser plus-in will also capture the necessary information for citations directly from the web. In addition to the directions on the Zotero site, there is also a LibGuide with tips about how to best utilize Zotero.
Avoiding Plagiarism
- OWL’s Plagiarism Overview
- Plagiarism Resource Site – includes an online self-test