Master of Finance - Schulich School of Business - York University

When to cite
“If you didn’t write it, cite it!”
Anonymous
The underlying principle is that ideas and words of others in secondary
sources must be formally acknowledged in your work.
Citing occurs within the body of your text, after referring to or quoting
another’s ideas with the author’s name, date of publication (and page
numbers when a direct quote) in parentheses.
You must also include a reference page at the end of your paper with all
the referenced items in alphabetical order.
You must cite when:
o You base your ideas on another person’s work. Cite the author and the
year in parentheses
o Example: Leaders who want to develop learning organizations
should focus on three architectural design elements – guiding
ideas, theory, methods and tools and innovations and
infrastructure (Senge et al, 1994).
o You refer to an exact part of another’s work. Cite the author, year and
page number in parentheses
o Example: “Leaders intent on developing learning organizations
must focus on all three architectural design elements. Without
all three, the triangle collapses. Without guiding ideas, there is
no passion… Without theory, methods and tools, people cannot
develop the new skills and capabilities required… Without
innovations and infrastructure, inspiring ideas and powerful tools
lack credibility…” (Senge et al, 1994, 36-37).
o These references must be included in the reference page at the end of
your document
Exact citing format varies depending on the source (whether it is a book,
journal article, newspaper, magazine or other source such as the internet)
and what style guide is used. The two most common are the APA style
and the Chicago style. In the next sections of this document, a hands-on
guide for citing format by source and style is provided.
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