Writing an academic paper requires using different sources of information. It’s needed to provide evidence and back up your claims using other academics and researchers' findings. But, you should know how to cite a research paper, to avoid plagiarism accusations.
Citing means taking someone else’s opinion or words, using it in your paper, and clearly stating whose it is. It may sound simple, but there are rules to follow. You should choose a citing style you’ll use and follow strict requirements the style imposes. This ultimate guide covers citing rules on how to cite research paper using APA, MLA, ASA, Chicago, Turabian, in-text references, and other important details.
Here are the steps to citing a research paper in the style of the American Psychological Association (APA). Start by listing author’s last name and first name initial. If there’s more than one author, list them using a comma to separate the two names. Use the ampersand (&) before the final name. Succeeding is the title of the work you're citing. Use capital letters for proper names and write full title and subtitle of the work. Place a full stop at the end. Next, add year this work was published. Use parenthesis and a full stop. You can also add the month if you want to be extra specific. If the work was never published, write down the year it was written.
To finish your APA research paper citation, you need to state where you found this source, and where it was published. It could be published as a part of a book, an independent thesis, an article in a magazine or academic journal, or the University database. Include page numbers, index number of the paper, issue of the magazine, and other relevant information.
If you’re not sure whether APA suits your paper, remember that it is commonly used to cite academic assignments on subjects like Linguistics, Psychology, Sociology, Criminology, Business, Economics, Nursing.
Modern Language Association (MLA) imposes different rules on how to organize a citation. Start by listing the author’s name in the Last Name, First Name format. If there are multiple authors, separate them with a comma. You’ll be using the word and instead of the ampersand (&). Title of the work for MLA citation for research paper will be under quotation marks. Capitalize the first letter of all words except for short articles and conjunctions. Next, you'll state where you found this work, whether it's a section of a book, a standalone publication you found at the university's archive, or a magazine article. Add publisher and publication year at the very end.
Look for more examples of citations in a research paper if MLA sounds tricky. If you find this or any of the other citation styles complex, you can find help. Find the best research paper editing service online Their professional writers will check your references and make corrections where needed. Remember that MLA is used for humanities disciplines like English language or other foreign languages, Literature, Culture.
Chicago style is very similar to MLA. The name of the first author will be inverted in the form Last Name, First Name. Names of subsequent authors will be in regular order. Enclose title in quotation marks using the title case, except for articles and conjunctions. Finally, citing a research paper Chicago style, state where and when this work was published. Add additional information such as a link to access the publication.
Chicago citation style originates from the University of Chicago and is utilized in humanities subjects: Literature, Arts, History.
ASA citation format for research paper starts with the author’s name in the format 1st Author (last name inverted), 2nd Author (full surname, last name), and 3rd Author. This is followed by the year of publication, the title of the work in parenthesis, and italicized name of publication. You’ll end the citation by adding information about the publisher- location, state, and name.
This style may not be the most common in research papers citations but it's good to know how to produce it when asked. ASA style guide was created by American Sociological Association so it is suitable for Sociology papers. If you struggle with creating this reference, the best research paper writing service will be able to step in. Just ask for an ASA-style bibliography and they'll handle the rest.
The final style of citation for research paper that we’ll cover is Turabian, also known as simplified Chicago. Just like in Chicago, it starts with the authors’ names- the name of the first author being inverted while the rest are listed regularly. If you choose the author-date Turbain referencing style, the information to follow will be the year of publishing. The rest will be the same as in the Chicago style. They both are used to cite papers in Business, History, and Fine Arts.
Now you know how to cite in a research paper bibliography or the reference list, using different citation styles. You'll decide which style suits your academic needs the most or the style will be assigned to you by a professor or mentor.
Apart from the bibliography and a reference list that we've mentioned above, students should know how to use in-text citations. This means that you'll mark the ideas and sentences in your research paper that were borrowed from another author by placing an in-text citation. If students do not cite, it means ideas are original and were not borrowed from other sources. However, avoid citing each sentence in your text as it won’t be considered original as well.
Here are examples of how to do in-text citation for each of the styles we’ve covered:
If the date of publication is unknown, use the abbreviation n.d. that stands for no date where you’d otherwise place the year, e.g. (Du, Rosson & Carrol, n.d).
Also, note that there’s a difference between a short and a long quotation when citing in a research paper.
A short quotation contains no more than 4 lines of text. When you're using an in-text reference, in this case, introduce author's name at the beginning of the quotation, or in parenthesis at the end of the quotation, along with the page number. Check this citation in research paper example:
or
If it's a long quotation, you need to introduce the quotation, place a colon, and indent from the left side. Here’s a long citation in research paper example.
Du, Rosson & Carrol found these results to match the previous findings:
This goes no matter what the topic of your research paper is or what style you chose to write in. If you need the inspiration to find a topic, there are research topics for college students you can find online. After you choose a topic and reference style, you’re all set to get started.
It may feel overwhelming learning about all referencing styles - from APA citation research paper to Turabian. The differences are minimal and you can easily make a mistake or lose focus. Luckily, this article breaks down all requirements and helps you understand how citing research papers works. Use TopWritersReview guides for all your future referencing and you’ll have nothing to worry about.
Posted by Chris M., May 30, 2022
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