Library:Library Research Skills For Biologists/Module 6/Page 02

In science, it is preferable to express the idea(s) of other authors in your own words, rather than directly quoting an author's work. However, even though you are expressing the ideas in your own words, it is important to give credit to the author both within the text of your work and at the end of your report or presentation in a bibliography. The act of referencing your sources(s) in your work and in a bibliography is called citation.

If you get into the habit of taking notes in your own words (you will learn more about these writing skills, known as paraphrasing and summarizing, later in the module) and recording the source of the information as you read, then you won't run into any difficulties when you are writing up your assignment.