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Pittsburghese: Citation

Also known as Western Pennsylvania English.

Citing Your Sources

There are numerous formats that can be used to cite sources. Four commonly used styles at Duquesne include:

  • MLA - Created by the Modern Language Association, it is mainly used in English and the humanities. The current version is the 9th edition.
  • APA - Created by the American Psychological Association, it is mainly used in Psychology and some of the other Social Sciences, as well as Nursing. The current version is the 7th edition.
  • Chicago Manual of Style - Used in many disciplines. The current version is the 16th edition.
  • AMA - Created by the American Medical Association, it used in Medicine, Pharmacy, and selected additional health sciences disciplines.  The current version is the 11th edition.

If you have questions about citations, Ask Gumberg or contact the Duquesne University Writing Center.

Paraphrasing and Summarizing

In writing papers, you will often want to use exact quotes, especially when you cannot improve upon an author's original way of stating an idea. In those instances, of course, you should use the exact quotation, correctly citing it as the work of someone else.

But a paper cannot be written by simply stringing together exact quotations from a number of authors. More often than not, in writing you will do more stating the ideas of others in your own words, that is you will paraphase or summarize those ideas of other people.

Paraphrases and summaries of other people's ideas must also be cited, or you will be charged with plagiarism. Plagiarism is not just the using of other people's exact words without giving them credit, but also using their unique ideas without citing them as the source. If you need help understanding how to paraphrase, summarize, or quote in your papers, contact the Duquesne University Writing Center.