6. I thought of an idea before I discovered that another author had said the same thing in a published source. Since I had already thought of it, I don't need to cite a source.

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Question restatement: The prompt asks about citing sources when you realize that another author had already expressed the same idea before you; it suggests you think since you thought of it earlier, you don’t need to cite.
Option A: Correct. Why this would be claimed: Some students think that if they came up with an idea independently, they don’t need to cite others who had the same idea. This line of reasoning mistakenly conflates originality with the existence of prior work and ignores scholarly conventions about attribution. 
Why this is incorrect: In academic writing, ideas that are not original to you—whether you thought of them first or not—still require citation if they come from someone else’s published work. Merely thinking of the idea earlier does not grant a license to present it as your own or to omit the source. Paraphrasing or citing is important to acknowledge existing contributions and to avoid plagiarism, even if the exact phrasing is your own.
Option B: Incorrect. Why this would be claimed: The statement asserts you only need to cite when you directly quote word-for-word from someone else, implying that paraphrasing eliminates the need for citation. This is a common misconception about plagiarism and attribution. 
Why this is incorrect: Even when you rephrase in your own words, if the idea originates from someone else, you must cite the source. Paraphrasing without citation still constitutes unattributed use of someone else’s ideas. The purpose of citation is to give credit and to allow readers to locate the original work, regardless of whether you used exact wording or your own wording. 
Option C (implicit alternative reasoning in the test context): If you thought of the idea independently and did not rely on any published source, some instructors might still require a citation if the idea is a well-known concept or if you are drawing on someone else’s research in a way that could be traced to a source. However, the given correct choice indicates that the belief described in the stem is not accurate. 
Option D (implicit): It’s essential to recognize that citation practices are about attribution, not about protecting your own thoughts from being challenged; the ethical standard is to acknowledge sources that influenced the work, not to rely on the novelty of your thought process.

In summary, the core issue is understanding that citing sources is about attribution of ideas, not about who thought of them first in a private sense. Even if you conceived the idea independently, if it aligns with or derives from someone else’s published work, you should provide a citation. The reasoning above explains why the statement in Option A is not a correct interpretation of scholarly practice, and why Option B’s claim—focusing on direct quotes rather than idea origin—is also flawed. The combination of these considerations clarifies why the given label for this item is Incorrect.

6. I thought of an idea before I discovered that another author had said the same thing in a published source. Since I had already thought of it, I don't need to cite a source.

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3. I only need to cite sources for quantitative information (i.e., numbers); ideas are not quantitative information, so I don't need to cite a source for them.

8. I do not need to cite a source for information that is common knowledge.

7. I only need to cite sources when I have directly quoted (i.e., copied word-for-word) other people's ideas or information; I don't need to cite sources if I have rephrased the idea using my own words.

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