In the process of writing a study, it is crucial to adhere to the principle of objectivity and refer to the research experience of other specialists in the subject area. Therewith, it is necessary to maintain a balance between quoting and unique information that was discovered during the research process. When referencing other works, it is important to consider the requirements of scientific publications and a certain style of citation. Further, it is explained how to make a citation correctly, whether references to other studies are considered plagiarism, and the most popular citation formats are analysed.
What is scientific citation?
When writing a study, authors can refer to the studies of other researchers on a certain subject, if such mentions contribute to a deeper investigation of the issue. It is worth considering that the acceptable citation level is about 15% of the non-author text. Quoting is not considered plagiarism provided that the link to the source is correctly formatted.
Scientific citation includes:
- Copying part of the text, formula, figure
- Paraphrase – rewording another researcher's text
- Mention and analysis of other studies
How to issue a citation?
When making references to other researchers, the requirements of a scientific journal for publication should be considered. They prescribe the style of scientific citation formatting. The most common of them are:
APA
One of the most popular citation styles for scientific literature, according which references within the text are formatted according to the format: (Author, year).
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MLA
This style is most common in the scientific literature of the humanities. The main difference between MLA and APA is that the citation page is indicated in parentheses instead of the year of publication according to the format: (Author page).
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Chicago
This style of citation is the most common for studies in the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and historical sciences. Chicago is not so tightly regulated compared to APA and MLA. The standard format is: (Author year) or (Author year, page).
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Harvard
The most common style for studies in the field of social sciences and humanities. It is also less regulated than APA and MLA, so there are several variations of this style. It is necessary to carefully consider the requirements of the journal for publication to choose the most suitable one, but according to the standard, the format is: (Author, year, page).
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What other citation styles exist?
In addition to the citation styles mentioned above, there are about 15 more most common ones. The list of recommended by Scopus includes:
- Vancouver Style
- Council of Biology Editors (CBE) Style
- MLA (Modern Language Association)
- Harvard Citation Style (Harvard Referencing)
- Chicago (Turabian) Style (CMOS)
- NLM (National Library of Medicine) Style
- APA (American Psychological Association) Style
The main points in the citation of studies
When writing a study and making a scientific citation, it is worth considering several important points:
- Each reference should be displayed in the bibliography.
- It is important to check the information about the author and the text of the work, if this is not possible, it is worth considering whether to refer to such a source. Quoting questionable sources can also negatively affect the reputation of authors.
- Graphs, figures, and formulas that have been borrowed from other researchers should also be drawn up with an indication of the source.
- It is vital to use quotation marks and links, otherwise, a fragment of the quoted text may appear as plagiarism during verification.
- Sometimes there are errors in the transliteration of the name/surname of researchers, so it is necessary to register the source in the original language in the bibliography.
If you need help in structuring the work, making citations or bibliographies, the specialists of the Scientific Publications will be happy to provide you with expert advice and support for a study. As a result, you are guaranteed to receive publication and indexing in the most rated Scopus and/or Web of Science publications. Leave a request on the website or contact us in any way convenient, and we will advise you shortly.
