When writing an article, most students struggle with properly citing their references. As you may be aware, each journal has its own set of rules and guidelines regarding citation styles, which they provide to the researchers.
In general, there are two main approaches to citation:
In-text citation + reference list:
It involves citing sources within the text of your work and providing a corresponding list of references at the end.
Endnotes or footnotes:
This method involves using numbered notes at the end of each page (footnotes) or at the end of the document (endnotes) to cite your sources.
Typically, researchers in the natural sciences use in-text citations, while researchers in the humanities often utilize endnotes or footnotes as their preferred citation method.
Example |
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Smith, J. D. (2020). "The impact of technology on human behavior." Journal of Social Psychology, 25(2), 45-60. |
APA Style
The APA (American Psychological Association) style is widely prevalent in the social sciences. In APA style, a citation for an article would typically include:
the author's last name and initials,
the publication year in parentheses,
the article title in sentence case, the journal title in italics,
the volume number in italics (issue number in parentheses),
and the page range.
Formatting Instructions for the APA Reference Page
There should be a consistent double space between each line.
Use a 0.5-inch hanging indent for each new paragraph in the reference list
Choose a font that is easy to read, such as Times New Roman (size 12) or Arial (size 11).
Include the page numbers in the header at the top-right corner of each page.
If the title consists of four or more words (excluding short verbs), capitalize them.
When citing a book with more than five authors, include the first author's last name followed by "et al."
MLA Style
MLA style, typically used in the humanities, includes:
the author's last name and first name,
article title in sentence case,
journal title in italics,
volume number,
issue number,
publication year,
and page range.
Example |
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Johnson, Sarah. "Exploring the Symbolism of Nature in Romantic Poetry." The Journal of Literary Studies, vol. 15, no. 2, 2019, pp. 45-60. |
Formatting Instructions for the MLA Reference Page
Ensure that the text is left margined
Maintain a 2-inch margin on all sides of the page.
Use double spacing throughout the reference page, within and between each reference.
Apply a 0.5-inch hanging indent for each new paragraph in the reference list.
Center-align the page title and present it in plain text, without any formatting such as italics, bold, or underlining.
Arrange the references in alphabetical order based on the authors' last names.
Include a header at the top-right corner of each page, consisting of the author's last name and the page number.
Chicago Style
Chicago style offers two formats: notes and bibliography, and author-date.
In the notes and bibliography format, a citation includes:
the author's full name,
article title in sentence case,
and journal title in italics,
volume number (issue number in parentheses),
publication year, and page range.
Example |
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Thompson, Robert. "The Role of Ethics in Business Management." Journal of Business Ethics 42, no. 3 (2009): 345-359. |
In the author-date format, the citation includes
the author's last name,
publication year,
article title in sentence case,
journal title in italics, volume number (issue number in parentheses),
and page range.
Example |
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Brown, Emma. 2015. "The Effects of Climate Change on Biodiversity." Environmental Studies Journal 18 (2): 104-120. |
Keep these points in mind
Main and subheadings should be written in italics.
When using dates without prepositions, a comma should be used.
When there are more than three authors, "et al." is used.
Harvard Style
Harvard style, also known as the author-date system, is commonly used across different fields. A Harvard-style citation for an article includes:
the author's last name and initials,
publication year in parentheses,
article title in sentence case, journal title in italics,
volume number (issue number in parentheses), and page range.
Example |
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Peterson, L. (2018). "The Importance of Cultural Diversity in Education." International Journal of Educational Research, 42(3), 345-359. |
When citing multiple sources within a text, you can separate them in a set using parentheses and semicolons, listing them in chronological order of publication.
If multiple works by the same author were published in the same year, use lowercase letters "a," "b," and so on after the year to differentiate them.
Example |
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The results of the first study (Woodhouse, 2018a) were inconclusive, but a follow-up study (Woodhouse, 2018b) achieved a clearer outcome |
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