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To successfully prepare a research paper for publishing, writing precise & proper references is a crucial step. The American Psychological Association's (APA) parenthetical author-date system and the Vancouver system, generally used in the sciences, are the two extensively utilized scientific writing styles.
It's important to double-check before you submit because every journal has different guidelines on the references you should use in your submission, including their location and format. Read this blog till the end to learn different styles of how to write references.
Defining References
It is necessary to acknowledge others' work while writing a research piece. This process is known as citing or referencing. It's crucial to be consistent and accurate so that readers can recognize and find the sources you've mentioned. Whenever you cite a reference, you need to follow the exact requirements; your graduation thesis especially has to follow this guideline!
However, if you are writing for academic publications, you should find out whether they use different techniques. References must be cited twice in an essay. First, when a document is mentioned in the work's text; second, a list appears in the bibliography after the work.
General Guidelines for Citing Sources
- In your reference list, all lines that follow the initial line should be spaced one-half inch from the left margin. It's known as a hanging indentation.
- Be sure to swap the names of all writers (i.e., last names should be mentioned first).
- Use the initials of the first or middle names of the authors.
- Include the surname and first/middle initials of all authors (up to a maximum of 20) of a specific publication (this is a new rule, as APA 6 only required the six authors initially).
- Put a comma between each author's initials and the following name on the list. Before the last author's name, use an ampersand (&). If there are more than 21 writers, include an ellipsis after the name of the 19th author before adding the last author's name.
- The first author of each work's last name should appear at the beginning of the reference listings.
- List the contents in chronological order, starting with the most current, if there are numerous articles by the same author or writers listed in the same order.
- Only the initial letter of the title and subtitles, the first word after a colon or a dash in the topic, and proper nouns should be capitalized when referring to the names of volumes, chapters, articles, reports, blog posts, or other sources.
- Remind yourself that there are specific guidelines for academic journal titles. View the section below.
- Title of lengthier works in italics (e.g., books, edited collections, newspapers, and so on).
- The names of shorter works, like chapters in books or articles in edited collections, should not be italicized, underlined, or enclosed in quotation marks.
What are DOI and URL?
When referencing and citing online sources, you should know What are DOI and URL. DOI and URL are used to locate online resources.
DOI
DOI is an abbreviation for digital object identifier. It is a sequence of numbers, symbols or letters to identify a document, including articles or pages, and links it to the web. Journals have a DOI for each article published online, and it is essential to use them in reference lists, especially if they aren’t published in print.
- A DOI is frequently used to identify a journal article but is also included in other publishing formats, such as books.
- Every DOI begins with 10. and consists of both numbers and letters.
- The DOI gives the object a permanent internet address, making it simple to find.
- To find papers, use Library Search's DOI number search function.
- Use the DOI in your reference list item wherever possible (for print or online content).
- There isn't a full stop after a DOI.
URL
A URL is a short form of a Uniform Resource Locator. It is essentially an address of a document on the web and is unique. You can use URLs in your references according to the norms of the used referencing style.
- Include a URL in your reference if an online journal article or e-book doesn't have a DOI.
- When referencing journal articles without a DOI, consider the journal's homepage URL.
- To discover the journal's webpage, you might search for the journal name (inside double quotation marks).
- Alternatively, you can search the Ulrich web database of the library for the journal record using the journal's title or ISSN. Locate the journal URL for your use on the journal record page.
You must provide the URL of the system homepage in your reference if you utilize any electronic materials from a library database that don't have a DOI, such as an eBook, a data collection, or a journal without a website.
Different Styles of Referencing
Let us explore the different styles of referencing used most commonly in academia. The method of how to write references will depend on the recommended referencing style.
AMS (American Meteorological Society)
The American Mathematical Society's citation standards are referred to as AMS Style. The order that the citation is referenced in the paper's text is indicated by the # symbol in brackets when using AMS.
APA (American Psychological Association)
APA is a modification of the Harvard style. Most standards are the same, with concise author-date citations in brackets in the main text and complete citations in the reference list. In APA style, it is normal only to offer a reference list instead of a bibliography. There is no requirement to mention an access or retrieval date for website references unless the page content is expected to change over time.
MLA (Modern Languages Association)
The MLA style uses a parenthetical citation format, so references in brackets in your essay's body are connected to total citations in the bibliography at the conclusion. The only information in the essay's main body bracket is the author's last name and the page number or numbers you are citing. For instance: There are several distinct reference practices or standards, but four are the most common.
A bibliography constructed in accordance with MLA guidelines arranges the references according to the author's last name. Each item should have the following information in this order: the complete name of the author, the book/publication's title, the publishing location, the publisher, and the date.
Chicago
There are two citation possibilities in Chicago style:
- Bibliography and notes:
A numbered format, in which a text number refers to a footnote or endnote carrying the full citation (as in Oxford referencing.) All sources and those you read but did not cite are included in the bibliography.
- Author-date citations:
In the body of the book, there are a few short author-date citations put in parenthesis (as in Harvard referencing.) and the same reference list that contains the sources you mentioned in your content.
Harvard
Referred to as the "author-date" style; the in-text referencing in Harvard style utilizes the author's last name, the publication's date and the page number if it refers to a specific page. It can be placed in brackets in the main body or footnotes. Only the bibliography or reference list contains a complete information.
The recommended punctuation and format of the text may vary, and your University can have its preferred method because Harvard is a "style" rather than a system or set of standards.
Oxford
In-text citations in Oxford referencing are in the footnotes. For the initial mention of a text, complete information should be included in the footnotes. A condensed version can then be utilized.
Vancouver
Each source is assigned a number according to its position in the text in the numeric referencing method known as Vancouver referencing. The same number is used each time the same source is cited in the text. A single, numbered list of citations with complete information makes up the reference list. You can also add a supplementary bibliography, alphabetized by author, including any sources you utilized for your assignment's research but did not credit in the text.
OSCOLA
Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities is abbreviated to OSCOLA. The School of Law at Reading prefers it because it contains guidelines for handling the sources that legal scholars regularly use, such as court decisions, legislation, and directives. Footnotes are used for in-text citations, and formal abbreviations are used for important sources, such as AC for Appeal Cases. A minimum amount of punctuation and precise guidelines for handling consecutive references are used.
MHRA
A number in the text that refers to a footnote or endnote is generally employed in the MHRA (Modern Humanities Research Association) style (this is the version used by English Literature). You can utilize name-year in-text citations. The whole bibliography is listed alphabetically by the first author's last name.
These referencing styles govern how to write references in a research paper or dissertation. We have covered the basics of each referencing style; if you need help understanding each style in more detail then contact us for a consultation session.
