University libraries

Because it's a way of respecting copyright and, more broadly, scientific ethics, but also...

• "Give credibility to your words" [1]
• "Say where you found each fact, idea, figure you put forward." [1]
• "Enabling the reader to verify the accuracy of the information reported: the basic principle of scientific communication " [2]
• "Allow ...you to consult the sources you have used" and to refer to them if necessary in your own work. [2]
• "To make a text easier to understand for the reader, who will be able to distinguish your ideas from those of the people mentioned." [2]
• "To enable you to find it if you need it" [1]
• " Avoiding plagiarism, whether intentional or unintentional, and the penalties that go with it" [1]

[1] http://www.univ-angers.fr/fr/vous-etes/etudiant-e/examens/plagiat.html

[2] https://www.integrite.umontreal.ca/pratiques/sources.html

 

When to quote?

• As soon as we take up what someone else has said or written: as it is or by rephrasing it in our own words
• "when photographs, images, data, statistics or graphics are integrated into a document".
• when translating!

In all these cases, the reference must be indicated independently the status or form of the document :

• published or unpublished ;
• online or printed ;
• free (in the public domain) or under copyright.
• oral or written, images, graphs, tables, maps, data, ideas, etc.

The only exception allowed is to indicate a fact or data of "public notoriety
Example: "William Shakespeare was born in England in the 16th century.