
What is Attribution?
- Attribution refers to the act of citation–i.e., the act of identifying the original source for a summary, paraphrase, or quote.
People attribute sources
- to acknowledge the inventions and ideas of others
- to adhere to copyright law and avoid plagiarism
- to follow professional standards of ethical behavior in the workplace
- to bolster our ethos in texts we are composing
- to allow readers to access their source(s), which they might want to do in order
- to more fully assess the source’s credibility
- to identify the status of the conversation on the topic.
Synonyms
The terms attribution and citation are synonymous.
Related Concepts: Archive; Canon; Citation Tools; Intellectual Property; Paraphrase; Quote; Summarize
Why Does Attribution Matter?
To learn more about the importance of attribution, see Citation.
When writers attribute sources, they use citation. A citation refers to information about where a source is from and who authored the source.