Citation Guide

Citation Conventions

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

This guide describes the citation conventions that HBS students should use when writing

research papers. The guide has been adapted from Chapter 3 of the Style Guide for HBS

Casewriters, which is available online at http://intranet.hbs.edu/dept/drfd/casese rvices/

styleguide.pdf. For information about citing source materials not covered in this guide,

please contact rreiser@hbs.edu.

PURPOSE OF CITATIONS

There are three main reasons to include citations in your papers:

 To give credit to the authors of the source materials you used when writing the paper.

 To enable readers to follow up on the source materials.

 To demonstrate that your paper is well-researched.

There are many ways to document one‘s research. The following guidelines, based on The

Chicago Manual of Style, present one method. Whichever method you choose, it is important

to follow a format that is clear and consistent.

WHAT TO CITE

You should cite all direct quotations, paraphrased factual statements, and borrowed ideas. The

only items that do not need to be cited are facts that seem to be common knowledge, such as the

date of the stock market crash. However, if you present facts in someone else‘s words, you

should cite the source of those words. In addition, if you paraphrase large amounts of information

from one source, you should cite that source, as emphasized in the following guidelines:

When you draw a great deal of information from a single source, you should cite that source

even if the information is common knowledge, since the source (and its particular way of

organizing the information) has made a significant contribution to your paper.

1

Failure to give credit to the words and ideas of an original author is plagiarism. Most people do

not intend to commit plagiarism but may do so inadvertently because they are in a hurry or

because of sloppy work habits. For tips on how to avoid plagiarism, see the...