PROPER CITATION OF SOURCES OF

INFORMATION
 TEXTBOOK AUTHORS AND OTHER
NONFICTION WRITERS ARE EXPECTED
TO PRESENT ACCURATE AND USEFUL
INFORMATION. THERE ARE DIFFERENT
FORMAT AND STYLE GUIDES WHICH AN
AUTHOR CAN USE TO PRESENT THESE
INFORMATION, INCLUDING CITATIONS
AND REFERENCES.
1. AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL
ASSOCIATION (APA).
THE APA STYLE CONTAINS RULES FOR
THE PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS FOR
WRITERS AND STUDENTS IN SOCIAL
SCIENCES, SUCH AS PSYCHOLOGY,
LINGUISTICS, SOCIOLOGY, ECONOMICS,
AND CRIMINOLOGY, BUSINESS AND
NURSING.
2. THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE
(CMS).
THE CMS CONTAINS RULES ON
PREPARING THE MANUSCRIPT FOR
PUBLICATION INCLUDING GRAMMAR,
USAGE, AND DOCUMENTATION. IT HAS
TWO DOCUMENTATION STYLES. THE
NOTE-BIBLIOGRAPHY SYSTEM (NB) IS
USED IN LITERATURE, HISTORY, AND THE
ARTS, WHILE THE AUTHOR-DATE SYSTEM
IS PREFERRED IN SOCIAL SCIENCES.
3. MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION
(MLA).
THE MLA STYLE IS COMMONLY USED IN
WRITING PAPERS AND CITING SOURCES
WITHIN LIBERAL ARTS AND HUMANITIES,
SUCH AS ENGLISH STUDIES, LANGUAGE
AND LITERATURE, FOREIGN LANGUAGE
AND LITERATURES, LITERARY CRITICISM,
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE, AND
CULTURAL STUDIES.
IDENTIFYING RELEVANT
INFORMATION
APART FROM KNOWING WHERE TO
ACCESS INFORMATION, A RESEARCHER
SHOULD KNOW HOW TO IDENTIFY IF THE
GATHERED INFORMATION IS
SIGNIFICANT. BELOW ARE SOME
GUIDELINES ON HOW TO ANALYZE IF THE
INFORMATION FROM THE SOURCES IS
USEFUL OR NOT.
1. PRINTED MATERIALS. CHECK THE AUTHOR’S
PROFILE AT THE BACK COVER OF THE BOOK TO
KNOW IF HE HAS EXPERTISE ON THE MATERIAL
WRITTEN. YOU CAN ALSO CHECK THE PREFACE
TO HAVE AN OVERVIEW OF THE BOOK’S
FRAMEWORK.

2. FILMS. APART FROM CHECKING OUT THE

REVIEWS FOR A FILM, YOU SHOULD ALSO
CHECK THE PROFILES OF THE DIRECTOR AND
SCRIPTWRITER.
3. INTERVIEW. WHEN INTERVIEWING
PEOPLE FOR FEATURE ARTICLE, LOOK FOR
EXPERTS WHO HAVE ACTUAL EXPERIENCE
TO ENSURE THAT THE INFORMATION YOU
WILL ACQUIRE IS ACCURATE AND
RELIABLE.
HOW TO COMMUNICATE INFORMATION

PEOPLE COMMUNICATE OR CONVEY

MESSAGES EITHER BY TALKING OR
WRITING. FOR EXAMPLE, NEWS CAN BE
TRANSMITTED ORALLY WHEN WE HEAR IT
ON THE RADIO. WE CAN ALSO GET
INFORMATION BY READING PRINTED
MATERIALS, SUCH AS NEWSPAPERS.
INFORMATION CAN ALSO BE CONVEYED
VISUALLY, SUCH AS WHEN WATCHING
MOVIES OR PLAYS, AS THE AUDIENCE
CAN VIVIDLY SEE AND HEAR THE
PRESENTATION. WHILE SOME PREFER
READING WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S
ROMEO AND JULIET, THERE ARE ALSO
OTHERS WHO APPRECIATE THE STORY
BY WATCHING ITS MOVIE ADAPTATION.
ETHICAL USE OF INFORMATION

CITING OF SOURCES IN FORM OF

FOOTNOTES, ENDNOTES, AND
BIBLIOGRAPHY IS THE ETHICAL WAY OF
DECLARING AND PROTECTING THE
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF AN
INDIVIDUAL. TEXTS, PHOTOS, TABLES,
AND THE LIKE SHOULD BE PROPERLY
CITED TO AVOID PLAGIARISM AND
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT.
1. CITATION.
A RESEARCHER USES CITATIONS TO
INFORM THE READERS THAT CERTAIN
TEXTS OR IDEAS ON HIS WORK CAME
FROM ANOTHER SOURCE.
2. PLAGIARISM.
A RESEARCHER OR WRITE R ACCUSED OF
PLAGIARISM MEANS HE USED SOMEONE
ELSE’S WORK AND IDEAS, WHETHER
DELIBERATELY OR NOT. PLAGIARISM, BY
VIRTUE, IS TANTAMOUNT TO STEALING
ONE’S IDEA. PROPER CITATION SHOULD
BE OBSERVED TO AVOID PLAGIARISM.
3. COPYRIGHT.
SOME PRINTED MATERIALS, LIKE TEXTBOOKS, HAVE COPYRIGHT.
LITERARY AND ARTISTIC WORKS ARE ALSO GOVERNED BY
COPYRIGHT LAW. THE COPYRIGHT PROTECTS THE OWNER, WHO
CAN EITHER BE THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER, OF HIS
EXCLUSIVE LEGAL RIGHTS FOR THE USE AND DISTRIBUTION OF
AN ORIGINAL WORK.
4. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.
WHILE PRINTED MATERIALS ARE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT,
INVENTIONS, LITERARY AND ARTISTIC WORKS, DESIGNS AND
SYMBOLS, ANDS NAMES AND IMAGES USED IN COMMERCE ARE
GOVERNED BY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (IP). THROUGH THE IP<
A PERSON IS CREDITED AS THE RIGHTFUL AND ORIGINAL OWNER
OF HIS WORK. COPYING THE WORK OF SOMEONE ELSE’S IS A
VIOLATION OF THE OWNER’S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS.
5. PUBLIC DOMAIN AND FAIR USE.
ONCE THE DURATION OF THE COPYRIGHT
CEASE, THE WORK BECOMES AVAILABLE
FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN. FOIR EXAMPLE,
LEONARDO DA VINCI’S PAINTING OF THE
MONA LISA WHICH DATES BACK DURING
THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD CAN BE USED
IN HISTORY TEXTBOOKS WITHOUT ASKING
THE HEIRS OF DA VINCI FOR PERMISSION
TO USE IT. HOWEVER, PROPER CITATION
SHOULD STILL BE CREDITED TO DA VINCI.
ON THE OTHER HAND, FAIR USE REFERS
TO THE LIMITATION AND EXCEPTION TO
THE EXCLUSIVE TIGHT GRANTED BY
COPYRIGHT LAW TO THE AUTHOR OF A
CREATIVE WORK. THIS MEANS THAT
WHEN A COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IS
USED CIRCUMSTANCES, SUCH AS
QUOTED VERBATIM FOR PURPOSES SUCH
AS CRITICISM, NEWS REPORTING,
TEACHING, AND RESEARCH, THERE IS NO
NEED FOR THE RESEARCHER TO ASK
PERMISSION OR PAY THE COPYRIGHT
OWNER FOR ITS USE.
SELF-CHECK:
ILLUSTRATION: MAKE A SIMPLE INFOGRAPHIC OF
HOW A PERSON IS AN INFORMATION LITERATE. USE
THE SPACE BELOW FOR YOUR DRAWING.

EXAMPLE: