What's the difference between citation and attribution?
Works that are under copyright require citation. Works under a Creative Commons license require attribution. There are slight differences described by the table here. Works in the Public Domain do not require either attribution or citation.
When in doubt, assume a work is under copyright and follow the citation guidelines.
Citation vs. Attribution
Citation
|
Attribution |
Academic and formal method of crediting the work of another that your work uses or references |
Fulfills the legal requirements of a Creative Commons license and gives credit to the creator of a work you use, share or modify |
Enables a content creator to refer to copyrighted works in their own new work in a limited way. |
Author of an open work has given advanced permissions for other content creators to use their work for free. |
A reference list of cited resources are typically placed at the end of the completed work (book, article, project). |
Attribution statements are found on the same page where they are used. |
The rights to use the content (meaning copyright) are NOT shared with the general public by the copyright holder. |
Copyright IS shared with the general public by the copyright holder by marking the work with an open-copyright license. |
Used to quote or paraphrase a limited portion of a restricted work. |
Used to quote (or paraphrase) all or a portion of an openly licensed work. |
Can paraphrase, but cannot change work without permission. |
Author has give advanced permission to change work. |
Many citation styles are available: APA, Chicago, MLA. |
Attribution statement styles are still emerging, but there are some Fdefined best practices. |
For example:
![article doi under copyright, All rights reserved](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/48710/images/copyright-notice.JPG)
|
For example:
![article doi, under a creative commons license, open access](https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/48710/images/oa-notation.JPG)
|
Citation vs. Attribution table is adapted from Lauri M. Aesoph's Self Publishing Guide, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License