3. It is the nature of teachers to assign papers to
students on topics for which they are not experts.
For example, a student might be asked to write a
paper on the topic of the Moon.
Most students undoubtedly know some things about
the Moon already.
For instance, many students know that the Moon is
bright sometimes; or it appears to change its shape in
the course of a month; or it is often used as a symbol
of romance.
1 CITATION
4. However, it is unlikely that many students have
traveled to the Moon recently, so how can a
student know the composition of the Moon’s
surface or what’s on the dark side?
How can a student know the size and mass of the
Moon or its age, or its distance from Earth?
To write about these things, students will have to
do some research.
That is, students will have to depend on
information that comes from someone else.
CITATION
5. The basic problem is how can
a person use this information
that comes from someone else
appropriately, that is, without
stealing it or without
committing plagiarism?
CITATION
6. The answer is very simple.
The answer is: citation.
Citation means that when a person uses
someone else’s words or ideas, they must
explain from where those words or ideas
come.
It is as easy as that!
Citation is the difference between being a
hero and being a thief.
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7. This guide will use the words “report” or “paper”
when referring to cited writing.
Cited writings are known by many names, among them:
research papers, research reports, term papers,
expanded essays, thesis, dissertations, and academic
papers.
There are differences in purpose and complexity
among these different forms.
However, the basic ideas of cited writing are common
to all of these formats.
This guide is intended to help students use basic
research and citations skills to write their reports and
papers.
CITATION
8. Citation means explaining where the words,
facts or ideas in your report came from.
The place where you find these words, facts or
ideas is called a source.
For instance, your sources might include
information from the Internet, books,
newspapers, journals, or your own research.
CITATION
9. Your citations must explain clearly where you
found your information so that someone else
could easily locate those same sources and
information if they wanted.
Telling where information comes from is
called citing a source.
When writing a paper, you must use two forms
of citation for each source: in-text citation
and reference citation.
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10. As an example, suppose you are
asked to write a research paper on
climate change.
In your research, you find the
following quotation that you would
like to use in your paper without
committing plagiarism:
2 IN-TEXT CITATION
11. There have been slow but fairly
steady increases in CO2 levels in the
atmosphere since measurements
began on Mauna Loa in Hawaii in
the mid-1950s based on
measurements there.
IN-TEXT CITATION
12. It was written by Dr. Alan Carlin, a
distinguished environmental economist and
scientist, who had a long career with the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (Alan
Carlin, 2012).
In other words, Dr. Carlin is an expert, a
reliable source.
The quotation was published in the April 2011
issue of the International Journal of Environmental
Research and Public Health with the very long title, “A
Multidisciplinary, Science-Based Approach to
the Economics of Climate Change.”
IN-TEXT CITATION
13. You could use this quotation in your paper by telling
exactly where the quotation came from, like this:
Dr. Alan Carlin, a well-known environmental
economist and scientist, in an article titled, “A
Multidisciplinary, Science-Based Approach to the
Economics of Climate Change,” which appeared in
the April 2011 issue of the International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health, wrote, “There
have been slow but fairly steady increases in CO2
levels in the atmosphere since measurements began
on Mauna Loa in Hawaii in the mid-1950s based on
measurements there.”
IN-TEXT CITATION
14. A shorter method would be to use a
reporting phrase (“according to” in this
case) and a brief citation code (“Carlin
(2011)” in this case), like this:
According to Carlin (2011), “There have
been slow but fairly steady increases in
CO2 levels in the atmosphere since
measurements began on Mauna Loa in
Hawaii in the mid-1950s based on
measurements there.”
IN-TEXT CITATION
15. These are two examples of what is called in-text
citation, that is, citations that are written as part of
the text of the paper.
The first example gives the full name of the author,
the title of the article, and the name and date of the
journal where the article was published.
It would be very hard to do this every time you
need to cite your source.
It would also be hard for your readers to follow
your ideas through this much information each time
you cite a source.
IN-TEXT CITATION
16. So writers usually employ something like the
second example in their papers.
This is a special citation notation; that is, it is a
special way of writing citation information.
The particular notation used here is called APA
style.
“Carlin (2011)” is a kind of code in APA style
that directs the reader to the references
section, the last section of the report, where
the full author, title and publishing information
is listed.
IN-TEXT CITATION
17. For each source cited in your paper,
you must also include an entry, or
reference citation, in the references
section of the paper.
The references section is placed after
the last page of your report.
The reference section is basically a list
of all the different sources that are
used in the report.
3 REFERENCE CITATION
18. The reference citation for the quotation
used in the examples above would look like
this:
Carlin, A. (2011). A Multidisciplinary,
Science-Based Approach to the Economics
of Climate Change. International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health,
8(4), 985-1031. Retrieved from
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-
4601/8/4/985/htm
REFERENCE CITATION
19. This entry contains the complete
information about this source: author
name and year of publication, title of
the article, journal where the article was
published, volume and issue number,
and the URL address (which indicates
this is an on-line journal).
The in-text citation, “Carlin (2011),”
refers readers to this reference citation
in the reference section of the paper.
REFERENCE CITATION
20. Again, this is the APA style entry for
the reference section.
Do not worry now about
understanding the elements of this
format, as it will all be explained by
your instructor and in the APA
citation guide.
REFERENCE CITATION
21. APA style was developed by the
American Psychological Association
(APA).
This style is very popular for research
papers in universities around the world,
especially for papers in business or
social science subjects (anthropology,
archaeology, economics, history, law,
linguistics, political science, psychology
and sociology).
4 A.P.A. STYLE
22. APA style is what you will use in this
course.
Several other citation styles have been
developed over the years for writers to use.
Of these, Modern Language Association
style (MLA) and Chicago Manual of Style
(Chicago) are also popular.
All of these styles are similar, so if you are
ever asked to use a different style than
APA, it will be quite easy for you to adapt.
A.P.A. STYLE
