{"id":143,"date":"2021-09-02T19:34:02","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T23:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=143"},"modified":"2025-12-17T17:07:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T22:07:56","slug":"citation-and-attribution","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/chapter\/citation-and-attribution\/","title":{"raw":"Citation and Attribution","rendered":"Citation and Attribution"},"content":{"raw":"In this section, we will be going over some basic guidelines around citation and attribution. If you are not sure what the difference between these two things is, start by reading the following section in the <em>Self-Publishing Guide<\/em>: <a href=\"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/selfpublishguide\/chapter\/citation-vs-attribution\/\">Citation vs. Attribution<\/a>.\r\n<h1>Citation<\/h1>\r\nAs you would with any academic writing, you should cite your sources throughout the resource. This means providing in-line citations or footnotes and some type of reference list. The citation style you use is up to you, as long as it is consistent. Generally, people use APA or Chicago style.\r\n\r\nResources:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/style.mla.org\/\">MLA Style Center<\/a> (see \"citing sources\")<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/apastyle.apa.org\/style-grammar-guidelines\">APA Style and Grammar Guidelines<\/a> (see \"in-text citations\" and \"references\")<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/langara.libguides.com\/apa-7\/indigenous\">Cite Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers in APA Style<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h1>Attribution<\/h1>\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--sidebar\">T: Title\r\nA: Author\r\nS: Source\r\nL: Licence<\/div>\r\nIf you are creating an OER that includes openly licensed content created by other people (whether that be text, images, or videos), you <strong>must<\/strong> attribute (give credit to) the original creator. This is a minimum requirement for materials licensed under a Creative Commons licence. See <a href=\"\/gettingstarted\/chapter\/licences-and-permissions\/\">Licences and Permissions<\/a> for more information.\r\n\r\nWhen attributing the creator, you should remember the acronym <strong>TASL<\/strong>, which stands for <strong>Title<\/strong>, <strong>Author<\/strong>, <strong>Source<\/strong>, and\u00a0<strong>Licence<\/strong>. These are the four things you need to include in an attribution statement.\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--exercises\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Sample attribution statement for an image<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-114\" src=\"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/355\/2021\/07\/44281863810_8c9c105506_c-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"A small bouquet of purple flowers.\" width=\"150\" height=\"100\" \/>\r\n\r\n\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/30478819@N08\/44281863810\">Small bouquet of purple flowers<\/a>\u201d by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/30478819@N08\/\">Marco Verch<\/a> is licensed under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/\">CC BY 2.0 licence<\/a>.\r\n\r\nIn this example, the attribution statement includes the title of the image, the photographer, and the licence. In addition, it links to the source of the photo, the photographer's page, and information about the licence.\u200b\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2>What if I adapt (make changes to) the resource?<\/h2>\r\nIf you edit an openly licensed resource, you should include that in your attribution statement. This can look like a brief description of what the change was and who made the change. Here are some examples:\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n<h3>Text Attributions<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Text under the \u201cWhat Are Your Learning Preferences\u201d and \u201cVARK Learning Styles\u201d headings is from \u201c<a class=\"internal\" href=\"https:\/\/openpress.usask.ca\/universitysuccess\/chapter\/1-3-how-you-learn\/\">How You Learn<\/a>\u201d in <em>University Success<\/em>\u00a0by N. Mahoney, B. Klassen, and M. D\u2019Eon. Adapted by Mary Shier.\u00a0Licensed under a\u00a0<a class=\"internal\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence<\/a>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3>Media Attributions<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/30478819@N08\/44281863810\">Small bouquet of purple flowers<\/a>\u201d by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/30478819@N08\/\">Marco Verch<\/a> is licensed under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/\">CC BY 2.0 licence<\/a>. Cropped by Josie Gray.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/yeIU7tuKkqc\">Introduction to Open Educational Resources<\/a>\u201d by Abbey Elder and adapted by Josie Gray is licensed under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY 4.0 licence<\/a>. In this adapted version, two slides were replaced with Canadian-specific content and sections were removed that were not relevant to the context of this project.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2>Do I need to attribute my original content?<\/h2>\r\nUsually, no. However, if you are using a mix of your own content and content from others (for example, using some of your own images) attributing your content will help make it clear to those who adopt and adapt the resource in the future who created what materials.\r\n<h2>Do I need to attribute public domain or CC0 content?<\/h2>\r\nAttribution is not legally required for public domain and CC0 content; however, we encourage you to still attribute this content. This will help make it clear to those who adopt and adapt the resource in the future who created what materials and what they are allowed to do with them. In addition, giving people credit for their work is good practice, even when not required.\r\n<h2>Track all attribution information<\/h2>\r\nWhen using and adapting openly licensed and public domain content from multiple sources, it is really important to keep track of what content is coming from where and the kinds of changes you are making so you can properly attribute everyone whose work you are drawing on. This is really hard to figure out later, so tracking this information from the beginning will make it easier in the long run.\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">Here is a template you can use to track this information: <a href=\"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/355\/2021\/07\/Attribution-Tracking-Template.xlsx\">Attribution Tracking Template [Excel]<\/a><\/div>\r\n<h2>Attribution style guidelines<\/h2>\r\nRefer to the following section in the BCcampus Open Education <em>Publishing Style Guide<\/em> for specific guidelines about where to put attribution statements in your resource and how to word them: <a href=\"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/publishingstyleguide\/chapter\/attributions\/\">Attribution Style Guidelines<\/a>.\r\n<div>\r\n<h3>Media Attributions<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/30478819@N08\/44281863810\">Small bouquet of purple flowers<\/a>\u201d by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/30478819@N08\/\">Marco Verch<\/a> is licensed under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/\">CC BY 2.0 licence<\/a>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<p>In this section, we will be going over some basic guidelines around citation and attribution. If you are not sure what the difference between these two things is, start by reading the following section in the <em>Self-Publishing Guide<\/em>: <a href=\"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/selfpublishguide\/chapter\/citation-vs-attribution\/\">Citation vs. Attribution<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h1>Citation<\/h1>\n<p>As you would with any academic writing, you should cite your sources throughout the resource. This means providing in-line citations or footnotes and some type of reference list. The citation style you use is up to you, as long as it is consistent. Generally, people use APA or Chicago style.<\/p>\n<p>Resources:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/style.mla.org\/\">MLA Style Center<\/a> (see &#8220;citing sources&#8221;)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/apastyle.apa.org\/style-grammar-guidelines\">APA Style and Grammar Guidelines<\/a> (see &#8220;in-text citations&#8221; and &#8220;references&#8221;)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/langara.libguides.com\/apa-7\/indigenous\">Cite Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers in APA Style<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>Attribution<\/h1>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--sidebar\">T: Title<br \/>\nA: Author<br \/>\nS: Source<br \/>\nL: Licence<\/div>\n<p>If you are creating an OER that includes openly licensed content created by other people (whether that be text, images, or videos), you <strong>must<\/strong> attribute (give credit to) the original creator. This is a minimum requirement for materials licensed under a Creative Commons licence. See <a href=\"\/gettingstarted\/chapter\/licences-and-permissions\/\">Licences and Permissions<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n<p>When attributing the creator, you should remember the acronym <strong>TASL<\/strong>, which stands for <strong>Title<\/strong>, <strong>Author<\/strong>, <strong>Source<\/strong>, and\u00a0<strong>Licence<\/strong>. These are the four things you need to include in an attribution statement.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--exercises\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Sample attribution statement for an image<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-114\" src=\"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/355\/2021\/07\/44281863810_8c9c105506_c-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"A small bouquet of purple flowers.\" width=\"150\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/355\/2021\/07\/44281863810_8c9c105506_c-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/355\/2021\/07\/44281863810_8c9c105506_c-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/355\/2021\/07\/44281863810_8c9c105506_c-65x43.jpg 65w, https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/355\/2021\/07\/44281863810_8c9c105506_c-225x150.jpg 225w, https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/355\/2021\/07\/44281863810_8c9c105506_c-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/355\/2021\/07\/44281863810_8c9c105506_c.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/30478819@N08\/44281863810\">Small bouquet of purple flowers<\/a>\u201d by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/30478819@N08\/\">Marco Verch<\/a> is licensed under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/\">CC BY 2.0 licence<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In this example, the attribution statement includes the title of the image, the photographer, and the licence. In addition, it links to the source of the photo, the photographer&#8217;s page, and information about the licence.\u200b<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>What if I adapt (make changes to) the resource?<\/h2>\n<p>If you edit an openly licensed resource, you should include that in your attribution statement. This can look like a brief description of what the change was and who made the change. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<h3>Text Attributions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Text under the \u201cWhat Are Your Learning Preferences\u201d and \u201cVARK Learning Styles\u201d headings is from \u201c<a class=\"internal\" href=\"https:\/\/openpress.usask.ca\/universitysuccess\/chapter\/1-3-how-you-learn\/\">How You Learn<\/a>\u201d in <em>University Success<\/em>\u00a0by N. Mahoney, B. Klassen, and M. D\u2019Eon. Adapted by Mary Shier.\u00a0Licensed under a\u00a0<a class=\"internal\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Media Attributions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/30478819@N08\/44281863810\">Small bouquet of purple flowers<\/a>\u201d by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/30478819@N08\/\">Marco Verch<\/a> is licensed under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/\">CC BY 2.0 licence<\/a>. Cropped by Josie Gray.<\/li>\n<li>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/yeIU7tuKkqc\">Introduction to Open Educational Resources<\/a>\u201d by Abbey Elder and adapted by Josie Gray is licensed under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY 4.0 licence<\/a>. In this adapted version, two slides were replaced with Canadian-specific content and sections were removed that were not relevant to the context of this project.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Do I need to attribute my original content?<\/h2>\n<p>Usually, no. However, if you are using a mix of your own content and content from others (for example, using some of your own images) attributing your content will help make it clear to those who adopt and adapt the resource in the future who created what materials.<\/p>\n<h2>Do I need to attribute public domain or CC0 content?<\/h2>\n<p>Attribution is not legally required for public domain and CC0 content; however, we encourage you to still attribute this content. This will help make it clear to those who adopt and adapt the resource in the future who created what materials and what they are allowed to do with them. In addition, giving people credit for their work is good practice, even when not required.<\/p>\n<h2>Track all attribution information<\/h2>\n<p>When using and adapting openly licensed and public domain content from multiple sources, it is really important to keep track of what content is coming from where and the kinds of changes you are making so you can properly attribute everyone whose work you are drawing on. This is really hard to figure out later, so tracking this information from the beginning will make it easier in the long run.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">Here is a template you can use to track this information: <a href=\"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/355\/2021\/07\/Attribution-Tracking-Template.xlsx\">Attribution Tracking Template [Excel]<\/a><\/div>\n<h2>Attribution style guidelines<\/h2>\n<p>Refer to the following section in the BCcampus Open Education <em>Publishing Style Guide<\/em> for specific guidelines about where to put attribution statements in your resource and how to word them: <a href=\"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/publishingstyleguide\/chapter\/attributions\/\">Attribution Style Guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>Media Attributions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/30478819@N08\/44281863810\">Small bouquet of purple flowers<\/a>\u201d by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/30478819@N08\/\">Marco Verch<\/a> is licensed under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/\">CC BY 2.0 licence<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"menu_order":6,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"How to Credit the Work of Others","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-143","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":466,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/143\/revisions\/466"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/143\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=143"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=143"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/gettingstarted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}