A college education affords a young person the opportunity to do and experience things that they could never otherwise do. Sometimes along with all that good, the student must face things they dread, and most often, the thing that a college student will dread most is the requirement of having to write a research paper. Part of the reason why research papers are such a bother for college students is because they require the utmost precision when it comes to citing the sources that have been used during the course of the research for the paper.
In an attempt to clarify some of the confusion surrounding proper citation methods, here are some basic guidelines and suggestions that will ensure that your citations contain all of the information that is needed and required.
USING DIFFERENT STYLE MANUALS -
There are different methods for citing sources in different academic areas. Each school will undoubtedly have it's own preferences with regard to style manuals. One way to cover all bases is to purchase the University of Chicago Style Manual (which is also sometimes referred to as the Chicago Style Manual or just the Chicago Manual,) because it will show you how to cite sources according to a host of different style preferences. It will include the MLA (Modern Language Association,) the APA (American Psychological Association,) such scholarly journals as the American Historical Review and many more.
WHAT TO INCLUDE IN CITATIONS -
Proper source citation dictates that you always include the following:
*Authors name
*Name of the source
*Volume number if there is one
*Edition
*Publisher
*Place where it was published
*Date of publication (original publication, revised publications, etc., )
*Page numbers
< What if there is more than one author? >
If there is more than one author, list the authors in alphabetical order according to their last name. If the book is edited by several editors, list the names of the editors in alphabetical order according to their last name. Indicate, however, that these are not authors, but rather editors.
FOOTNOTES VS ENDNOTES -
Depending on the type of paper you are writing, you may be called upon to use footnotes or endnotes. One thing to consider when using footnotes or endnotes is that with end notes, they appear at the end of each page, whereas footnotes appear at the end of the article. For someone who is reading the article, it is sometimes preferable to be able to see the citations at the bottom of the page.
COMPUTER CITATION PROGRAMS -
There are programs that are designed to make citation in research papers considerably easier. These programs are created so that with each source that a student uses, they can enter the appropriate information into the database. They can choose which style manual to use. Then they can use the information from within the database to embed endnotes or footnotes into the paper and to create a reference list or bibliography at the end. These programs are a bit pricey, but for anyone who will need to write many research papers and do a lot of documentation and when adhering to a specific style manual is essential, these programs are tremendously helpful.
THE IMPORTANCE OF CITING SOURCES -
The importance of citing everything that is taken from any type of source is essential. Failure to do so can be interpreted as plagiarism which is not only completely dishonest and unethical, but it is also illegal, and the potential ramifications from this sort of intellectual property theft can be devastatingly serious. Students can be expelled from colleges and universities for plagiarism. If there is ever a doubt as to whether or not a source should be cited, it's best to err on the side of caution and cite that source fully.
Learning how to cite one's sources properly and fully isn't difficult to do. There are a wealth of sources from which to learn how to do this, and many schools may have their own style manual. This is a skill that can be helpful for anyone who chooses to go on to do graduate work or who may be called upon to do research for some purpose at a later date. The proper citation of sources is also that gives credibility to the research in a paper and to the person who has written it.