The Difference Between Authorship, Attribution & Citation

When it comes to plagiarism-related issues, there are three terms that get thrown around a lot: Authorship, Attribution, and Citation.

The three terms are often used interchangeably. And, to be fair, there is a great deal of overlap between them. However, there are some key differences that are important to understand. 

As such, I wanted to take a moment to break down these terms, explain what they have in common, how they differ, and when or where you are most likely to encounter them.

While these aren’t necessarily the worst terms to get mixed up, there are important nuances that separate them, and one should be aware of those differences.

So, we’re going to examine these terms, starting with the biggest umbrella term and working our way down.

Understanding Authorship

Authorship is the big idea of what it means to be the creator or author of a work. Though the term has a legal definition, it is often used more philosophically to describe what it means to be the (or a) creator of a particular work.

Legally, the author of a work is the person who is the creator of it. Usually, that is the individual or group that created it, but it can be a company or organization if the work is made for hire. 

Philosophically, things get more complicated. There often isn’t a unified definition of what authorship means. For example, one definition says that the author of a work is a person who does all of four things:

• Makes substantial contributions to the work
• Drafts or revises the content
• Gives final approval for the publication
• Agrees to be accountable for any issues related to the work

However, regardless of specific definition, it’s the last one on this list that is the most important. If there is an issue with the work, who bears the responsibility for it? That, in many ways, cuts to the heart of what it means to be an author. The author is the one who enjoys the credit for the work, but also bears the responsibility for it should there be an issue.

In that regard, authorship is very much like ownership. However, there is a constant debate about who deserves to be considered the author of a particular work, including what amount and kinds of contribution are required to be considered an author.

AI, obviously, is adding a new wrinkle to this debate by adding non-human “authors” to the mix.

Understanding Attribution

To put it simply, attribution is the process of giving credit to the original author of a work that you are using. When looking at writing, attribution focuses on two elements: the words and the ideas/information.

If you properly paraphrase another author’s work, you still need to give attribution to the original for the ideas. If you are using a quote, you need to indicate that it is not your text (usually by using quotation marks or block quotes) and credit the source.

Attribution, as a term, is a big umbrella that covers pretty much any way you would give credit to another author and their work. Though it isn’t a legal term, there are some legal definitions of plagiarism, in particular when using Creative Commons licensed works.

What requires attribution and how should the attribution be applied are two questions that differ based upon the type of work, the medium, and the intended audience. It’s important to know the standards of the space you are working in.

Attribution is what defines whether someone has committed plagiarism. It doesn’t necessarily determine if a work is a copyright infringement or violates a different ethical or legal standard. However, proper attribution will at least ensure that you are not accused of trying to take credit for work that you did not create.

Understanding Citation

Citation is often used as a synonym for attribution. I’ve done that here many times before.

However, to be more exact, citation is a subset of attribution. The term is most commonly used in academic circles. It refers to the process of citing information in academic papers. This includes both the in-text citations and the full references list that such works usually contain.

Generally, the purpose of citation is different from attribution. Attribution is about giving credit to other people’s work, while citation is about supporting your own work and validating your claims.

Obviously, attribution can support your own work, and citation gives credit to other people. Thus, there is a significant overlap between the two terms. However, citations are more commonly about providing the validity of your points and information. It’s saying, “This is correct, see this source to check it for yourself.”

Because of this, you might cite things that wouldn’t ordinarily be attributed. Basic facts, broad ideas, etc., might be cited if there is a reason to do so within the work.

However, since both attribution and citation both give credit and support one’s own work, using them interchangeably is not always inappropriate. Still, you are much more likely to hear the term citation in academic circles than you are in legal, journalistic, or business ones.

Bottom Line

In general, these terms all share a great deal of overlap. They all deal with the idea of determining who is responsible for a particular work and giving them credit for it.

Colloquially, they are often interchangeable for one another, in particular citation and attribution. However, there are still spaces where the differences between them are significant enough that one needs to be aware of them.

The biggest and most important is academia, where citation refers to a specific type of attribution that is done for a specific reason. However, in other contexts, you aren’t likely to confuse anyone by using the terms interchangeably.

Still, knowing the nuances of these terms can help you understand why it is important to give credit to your sources and how doing so can help your work improve. It’s not purely about ethics, proper citation and attribution can help strengthen your work by adding to its credibility.

So, while the differences may be subtle and only occasionally worth worrying about, it’s important to understand them to not only avoid ethical issues, but also to create the strongest possible work you can.