Here is a well-known fact. All of your essays are going to be checked for plagiarism. Plagiarism simply refers to the copied content. For example, when you copy sentences from another source and add them into your own, without mentioning the author or the source properly. All professors check the papers for plagiarism, so you must know how to cite an essay.
How to cite an essay: Basics
First of all, you will have to know when citations are needed. They are essential in making your essay look so much better and they will assist you to get a better grade. But, you should know that too many citations are far from desirable and they should be avoided. Anyway, we will help you understand how to cite an essay properly and safely.
Another, also important fact is to make sure you use relevant and important sources. There is no need in using poor-quality sources that do not add value to the essay.
Make a difference in the text
The first thing is to actually add citations. You can use quotes, which is recommended or you can decrease the font of the quoted text. The idea is to distinguish the quoted text from your own. When decreasing the text font size, make sure to change the margins as well. They should make the text narrower than the rest of the text.
Now, you can mention the name of the author and the source by adding a footnote, which is precisely as the name suggests. It is a note at the end of the paper. There is a clear difference between a footnote and the endnote. A footnote appears at the end of a page, as we have explained already. Endnote appears at the end of the essay.
A more desirable way and probably mandatory for most of you is to use a bibliography page. It is a page at the end that reveals all the sources you used for the essay. Some students prefer simply adding the names of the authors to the bibliography page which isn’t enough. Make sure to include the author’s name, the name of the book, the page number you quoted material and also the publisher. Add the year when the source was published and you are done. Rank the sources if you want the essay to look even better.
There is no limit on how many sources you should use add. Of course, using just one isn’t ideal and it is used in rare situations. We would recommend you to use between 3 and 7 sources depending on the length of the essay you are writing.
The final word
Now you know how to cite an essay properly and know why you should do it. Don’t forget that simply copying the material is far from safe and it will make sure your essay is rejected! Instead, simply add the aforementioned elements and be free to cite anyone and use any source available for you.