14 Citation vs Attribution

Even though they share characteristics, citations and attributions play different roles and appear in different places. This chapter defines citation and attribution, explains how and when they should be used in an open textbook, and discusses their purposes, similarities, and differences.

Outside ideas and information provide evidence that builds an argument or lays the foundation for a textbook’s topic. A strong textbook will appropriately reference these sources, showing the student reader where information and ideas that do not originate within the open textbook author come from. This should be done for both restricted and open works through citations and attribution statements. Use this as an opportunity to show students by example how a scholar respects and shares information from other sources.

Citation

A citation allows authors to provide the source of any quotations, ideas, and information that they include in their own work based on the copyrighted works of other authors. To exclude citation of a resource referenced in your own work places you at risk of plagiarizing. Plagiarizing is the act of passing another individual’s ideas or work off as your own.

Citation is a common and long-time practice among scholars used to indicate where a resource is from and who the author is. Unlike an attribution, citation is typically used for copyrighted works with restricted rights or “all rights reserved.” In other words, it is used in works for which broad permissions have not been granted.

Attribution

Attribution is the cornerstone condition when using a resource or text released with an open-copyright license. This legal requirement states that users must attribute—give credit—to the creator of the work.

In a CC BY license, the “CC” stands for “Creative Commons” and the “BY” stands for “Attribution,” or who the work is “by.”

An attribution statement is used to provide credit to the original creator; its purpose is similar to a citation. Best practice says that the statement should include the title of the work, name of the creator, and license type (with links to each). When using text from another open educational resource, be clear in your attribution statement what section of your textbook contains this information.

A useful tool to help create attribution statements is the OPEN Attribution Builder by Open Washington.

Differences

Citation and attribution serve different purposes.

• Citation is used for academic reasons in order to give credit to a colleague for their work as part of academic integrity. It’s also used for legal reasons. Attributing an open work fulfills the legal requirement of the open-copyright license, which requires you to give credit to the creator of the work.
• Citation is used for restricted works where the copyright holder does not share the rights of the copy with the general public. The opposite is true for cases where attribution is used.
• Citation legally protects an author who wants to refer to someone else’s work and to avoid plagiarism and copyright infringement. The author of an open work has given advanced permission for others to use their work.
• When referencing a restricted work with a citation, one must be careful about the amount referenced. Both direct quotations and paraphrasing are permitted. All of an open work may be used with no limitations; attribution is used to give the author of this work credit.
• The closest one can come to altering a restricted work is to paraphrase the original author’s ideas and expression of these ideas. Whereas the author of an open work has provided advanced permission to use AND change their work (except in cases where ND—No Derivatives—has been applied).
• Citation styles are varied and established. They dictate how to cite or reference a paraphrase or quotation within text (e.g., with an in-text citation or footnote) and how and where to provide the full reference, whether it be in a reference list, a works cited, or a bibliography at the end of a book.
• The styles for attribution statements are still emerging. Current best practice for an attribution statement states it should reside on the same page (digital or printed) as the resource it refers to. Statements can stand alone, e.g., within the caption of an image, or in a list at the bottom of the page.

The following table summarizes the differences between citations and attributions.

Similarities

There are also similarities between citation and attribution.

• Both can be—and often are—copyrighted.
• Both give credit to the creator of the original work
• For both restricted and open works, the author or creator of a work might be different from the copyright holder. For example, if a faculty member writes an open textbook, their institution might hold copyright. However, it’s standard practice to attribute the creator—not the copyright holder—in the attribution statement.
• Both can be used for either a newly created work or a revised work
• Both can be used when referring to a portion of another work, though the amount that can be cited from a fully copyrighted work is substantially less than what can be used from an open work
• Both can be used when building an argument or the foundation of a textbook