Documenting Sources

Research has to be documented. What this means is that as a researcher you need to explain your research techniques and present the results; it also means that you must show readers how you came to your conclusions. To do that, you must provide correct bibliographic citations for the sources you use.

Readers should be able to understand how your sources support your line of argument or your interpretation of evidence.Readers should also be able to locate the sources themselves so that they can judge their reliability and validity firsthand  if they so desire. The term documenting sources refers to the process of keeping track of your information and citing it properly in your completed style, provides you with a sample paper then turns to issues involved in Internet and web citation.