6th Grade Research & Citations Practice: Questions, Answers and Tips

Looking for 6th grade research & citations practice? Below are worked examples, the mistakes students make most, and practice questions with an answer key.

Every example below comes from BAMS Academy's Research & Citations practice, the same questions students answer on the site.

Research & Citations in 6th grade, skill by skill

Conducting research and citing sources properly. BAMS Academy breaks the unit into the skills below. Each comes with one of its practice questions.

Paraphrase properly and recognize what counts as plagiarism

Rewording is not the same as paraphrasing. Which is what counts as plagiarism even when it is unintentional? (Choices: Reusing a source's sentence structure with a few words changed; Using more than three sources in one essay; Quoting a source at length with quotation marks and a citation; Citing a source you disagree with.)

Answer: Reusing a source's sentence structure with a few words changed. Patchwriting — same skeleton, new words — is treated as plagiarism regardless of intent.

Rewording is not the same as paraphrasing. Which is what to include when you summarize a whole article in two sentences? (Choices: Every statistic the article mentions; The article's best sentence, copied exactly; The main argument, in your own words, with a citation; Your opinion of the article instead of its argument.)

Answer: The main argument, in your own words, with a citation. A summary compresses the source's argument. It still borrows the idea, so it still needs a citation.

Rewording is not the same as paraphrasing. Which is Source: "The treaty collapsed within eighteen months because neither side had agreed on how to verify compliance." — the correct paraphrase? (Choices: Without a shared method for checking that the terms were being followed, the agreement fell apart in under two years (Han 204).; The treaty collapsed within eighteen months because neither side had agreed on how to verify compliance (Han 204).; The treaty fell apart within eighteen months because neither party had agreed on how to verify compliance (Han 204).; The treaty failed because one side broke the rules deliberately (Han 204).)

Answer: Without a shared method for checking that the terms were being followed, the agreement fell apart in under two years (Han 204). The paraphrase reorders the idea in new wording. The last option cites correctly but reports something the source never said.

Worked examples

Example 1

Question: Citation format is exact. Which is the correct MLA in-text citation for a quotation from page 42 of a book by Jamal Okonkwo?

1. Nature "keeps its own accounts" (Okonkwo, p. 42).
2. Nature "keeps its own accounts" (Okonkwo 42).
3. Nature "keeps its own accounts." (Okonkwo 42)
4. Nature "keeps its own accounts" (Jamal 42).

How to solve it: MLA uses last name and page number with no comma and no "p.", and the sentence period comes AFTER the parentheses.

Answer: Nature "keeps its own accounts" (Okonkwo 42).

Example 2

Question: Choose the correct MLA in-text citation for a web page with no page numbers

1. The migration begins in late March (Alvarez, n.d.).
2. The migration begins in late March (Alvarez 0).
3. The migration begins in late March (www.example.org).
4. The migration begins in late March (Alvarez).

How to solve it: When there are no page numbers, MLA gives the author's last name alone — never the URL.

Answer: The migration begins in late March (Alvarez).

Try these practice questions

1. Citation format is exact. Which is which of these still requires a citation?

   1. Your own opinion about the topic
   2. A statistic you found in one specific study
   3. The fact that there are seven days in a week
   4. The fact that water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius

2. Citation format is exact. Which is what a signal phrase does in a research paper?

   1. Lists every source used in the paper
   2. Replaces the need for a citation entirely
   3. Introduces the source before the quotation, so the reader knows who is speaking
   4. Marks the end of the paragraph

3. Citation format is exact. Which is the correct MLA works-cited entry for a book?

   1. Jamal Okonkwo, Rivers and Ledgers, Harbor Press, 2021.
   2. Rivers and Ledgers by Jamal Okonkwo (Harbor Press).
   3. Okonkwo, Jamal. "Rivers and Ledgers." Harbor Press, 2021.
   4. Okonkwo, Jamal. Rivers and Ledgers. Harbor Press, 2021.

4. Citation format is exact. Which is the correct MLA in-text citation when the source has no named author?

   1. Coral cover fell by half (No author, 7).
   2. Coral cover fell by half.
   3. Coral cover fell by half (Anonymous 7).
   4. Coral cover fell by half ("Reef Decline" 7).

Answer key

1. A statistic you found in one specific study — Common knowledge needs no citation, but any specific finding traceable to one source does.
2. Introduces the source before the quotation, so the reader knows who is speaking — A signal phrase ("As Okonkwo argues...") frames borrowed material so it never reads as the writer's own.
3. Okonkwo, Jamal. Rivers and Ledgers. Harbor Press, 2021. — Last name first, book title in italics (not quotation marks), then publisher and year.
4. Coral cover fell by half ("Reef Decline" 7). — With no author, MLA uses a shortened form of the title in quotation marks, not the word "Anonymous.".

Keep practicing

The fastest way to build confidence is a few questions at a time, with feedback on each answer. Start with Research & Citations practice for grade 6, where every question comes with a step-by-step explanation.

More from BAMS Academy:

• BAMS Academy English practice by grade
• Every 6th grade subject