Credit

Credit is both a financial term and a term of recognition or acknowledgment.

In non-fiction writing, especially historical and scientific works, it is generally considered important to give credit to sources of information and ideas. Failure to do so often gives rise to charges of plagiarism.

Scientific papers generally contain a lengthy section of footnotes. Crediting sources provides readers with an opportunity to discover more about the cited material. It also provides a check against misquotation, as it's easy for an attributed quote to be checked when the reference is available.

See also: Loan, Credit card