In college, most professors will ask you to use one of the commonly accepted citation styles, like Modern Language Association or American Psychological Association, when writing a paper or presentation. Because each citation style has its own set of rules about in-text citations and bibliography pages, it's best not to memorize them, but instead understand what kinds of things you must typically include when completing a citation and how to carefully follow citation reference manuals. To practice, you can use citation style activities, like worksheets that ask you to complete a mock citation then check your answer against an answer key. You can also use citation machines, like the online Easy Bib or Microsoft Word's version that is built into its later-version word processors. Completing a citation using a machine, then checking it using the manual can reinforce your citation skills. It is not advisable to rely on citation machines alone.
When you reference a source in your paper, you will need to either summarize it, paraphrase it or quote it. Understanding how and when to do each is integral to your writing a rhetorically effective paper. For this reason, you might want to use referencing activities to test each of these skills. For instance, one summarizing activity you can try is read an article with your friend, then each of you write a summary. Finally, compare summaries to determine if each person understood the article's main idea. Another activity involves circling the summaries, paraphrases and quotes in your paper and substituting another method of referencing, such as using a quote when you previously used a summary. Next, trade papers with a partner and have him explain which strategy he liked best and why.
The Internet makes research easier than ever. Websites and even books on numerous topics are available to you with a click of the mouse. However, the Internet also makes it more difficult to distinguish between reliable and unreliable sources, or those that are credible and those that are not. Practice choosing reliable sources by working with a partner to find at least three reliable and three unreliable sources on a topic of your choosing. Compare and contrast them to determine why you have rated some reliable and some unreliable.
Although referencing other authors and sources in your work is vital in making your writing effective, you must also learn to integrate these sources into your own writing. By integrating the sources, you make it clear to your readers how you want them to interpret your references. One activity you can use to improve source integration is freewriting. A common technique learned in most composition classes, freewriting involves writing whatever comes to mind for a few minutes without worrying about editing or how it "sounds." You can use freewriting to help you integrate sources by focusing your writing on these resources - spend at least five minutes writing whatever comes to mind about why you chose them. Then revise these sentences and add them to your paper.