Research Paper Citation Styles
Writing a research paper is not an easy task to accomplish during the graduation days. And if research and practice itself was not enough, there are different research paper writing styles and research paper citation styles to add on to the complications. Hence, it is important to first understand different citation styles, why they are used and how.
What is citation?
Citation is basically a small note to describe the source of information or quotes used while writing the research paper.
Why to use citation?
During research paper writing, a lot of times one needs to borrow ideas or phrases or quotes from a lot of sources. These sources are generally secondary sources of information like books, magazines, and internet. It is unethical and inappropriate that you have used someone else’s work but still not quoted their reference. In case if it is done, this leads to plagiarism in your content. Now again, citation does not mean simply just copying someone else’s work but only few important pieces of information or quotes or ideas which is crucial to your research.
This is basically a way to concede the fact that you have used other’s work and being candid. Also, this can be a way to show the audience that you have used various secondary sources of information for performing and completing your research.
Why do you need a particular research paper citation style?
These are basically ways to standardize the format of your writing according to a pre-existing writing style and help the reader to follow a certain pattern in terms of understanding your citations. The need for doing this had originated from healthcare, science and technology thesis writing which requires citation of specific research sources.
What are the different research paper citation styles?
There are three basic formats for citing a research paper. One may select a format that suits one’s needs depending on your research paper topic or what has been prescribed to you by your institution.
• APA writing style- This is one of the most simple citation styles that can be used for writing your research papers. It stands for American Psychological Association.
• MLA writing style- This style is a bit more complicated and elaborate and hence requires more study to understand. Hence if you want to select this style, it is advisable to first go through research paper samples. MLA stands for Modern Language Association and is generally used if the topics are based on subjects of literature and cultural studies.
• Chicago writing style- In this style, mainly footnotes are used to write different citations.
Where is the citation styles used in the research paper?
References are usually cited in two places:
1. A concise citation appears in the text depending on the format selected
2. A complete citation appears in a bibliography at the end of the report.
3. Footnotes section is also used in some writing styles.
One can also get some good research paper help to understand research paper citation styles completely.
