Citations are an essential part of any research paper and provide several functions.
Citations will allow you to:
Acknowledge the work of other writers
Avoid plagiarism
Lend credibility to your arguments
Show that your arguments are soundly rooted in previous research
Contextualize your arguments in the existing scholarly conversation
Give readers resources to look into for more information on your topic
The Citation Styles Guide will help you to learn how and why to cite your sources: