Why use sources?

All information comes from somewhere. In academia we acknowledge the source of our information for a number of reasons, including to:

• Acknowledge the contributions others have had on our learning.
• Avoid plagiarism (breaking law/Protocol).
• Provide deeper learning opportunities for readers.
• Allow others to check our work.
• Connect or situate our work within a discipline of study.
• Add credibility to our thoughts (assuming our sources are credible – more about that later).