Research in recent years has demonstrated that construction of knowledge is a social process. Explicit reference to previous research, or citation, is one feature of this interactivity. Citation is used to credit sources, to demonstrate writers’ familiarity with the field, to support writers’ arguments, or to “create a research space” [Swales, J., (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press]. Important as it is, citation is often found difficult by student researchers. The current study investigated first-year graduate students’ citation behavior. Eighteen student papers were collected for analysis. Aspects examined include number of citations, surface forms of citations, presentation of cited work, and citations in rhetorical sections. The analysis shows that students used far fewer citations than expert writers. Their preference for summary and generalization exhibited a similarity to more experienced researchers’. However, students were found to rely on long quotes when presenting cited information, a citation strategy less commonly adopted in the humanities and social sciences. Implications of the findings are discussed at the end.