“Give credit where credit is due” is an expression that might feel overused… until your friend steals your joke! When you hear everyone laughing at that clever response with perfect timing, you want your friend to give you credit for it (even if you’re sure that their delivery is probably better than yours would have been!).

If you feel this way about a good joke you’ve created, then authors who have spent weeks/months/years on their articles or books are definitely going to feel the same way about wanting credit for what they’ve created.

Additionally, it’s the right thing to do! Academia and research flourish when we share ideas, but taking those ideas or words and calling them yours doesn’t encourage the right kind of sharing. Academic integrity is necessary for everyone involved in the process. This section explains how to use citations to give credit where credit is due.