USING INTERNET SOURCES IN YOUR RESEARCH PAPERS

When you use Internet Sources in your research papers, you need to keep in mind that the sources you use are protected by the same kinds of copyright and intellectual property considerations as are printed materials.

Copyright

U.S. copyright law protection applies to all original works of authorship, including literary, dramatic, musical and artistic, published or unpublished. The use of a copyright notice, such as the symbol ©, is not required to secure the rights. Some material, such as most government documents, or very old works, are considered to be in the public domain and so are excluded from copyright law. Basically however, if you find any material online, text on a web page, or a graphic image, you should assume that it is covered by copyright law unless the site explicitly says otherwise.

Citation

To avoid plagiarizing the materials you find online, be sure to give them credit by citing them correctly in your papers. The example below shows how you should cite, according to the MLA format, a web page titled DiversityRx; last updated Sept. 3 1999, sponsored by the National Conference of State Legislatures, and accessed by you on October 4, 1999:

DiversityRx. 3 Sept. 1999. The National Conference of State Legislatures. 4 Oct. 1999.

     <http://www.diversityrx.org/>.

For more examples, see:

"Works Cited" Examples Using the MLA Format

"Works Cited" Examples Using the APA Format

The Columbia Guide to Online Style

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