Read carefully and get a true understanding of the ideas of the author that you want to cite in your paper. If you are going to cite someone else's ideas, it is important that you make sure that you are citing only the information that the author actually stated in their paper.
Record careful notes so that you will always remember where you found the idea that you want to cite. When writing your outline, automatically jot down the author's name, title of the work and the page number where the idea is located so that you can come back to it when you decide to include the idea in your own work.
Determine what format you want to write your paper in. Two of the most common for scholarly works are the MLA and APA formats. If you are writing a paper for a class, ask your teacher which type of format they prefer for your citations. The format will determine exactly what your citations look like in your paper.
Incorporate the rules of the format you choose into your paper when citing someone else's ideas. Consider starting your sentence off with the person you are citing from's name so that your audience will know that you are not claiming the ideas as your own. You may also use a direct quote if you place it within quotation marks.
Include a Works Cited or References section at the end of the paper where you give the entire set of information about the ideas that you cited in your paper. This section is very important and will also vary depending on the format that you choose for your paper.