Question: Explain the significance and purpose of referencing. Explain the bibliography and state its formatting guidelines.Describe citations and their types. Explain the A to Z of referencing.

Do you think people will believe you if you say, ‘I went to NASA? But if you add, ‘My father took me,’− you have appended a value by adding the reference of your father, which will surely convince your friends.This is what referencing does to any academic content. Going by the correct referencing format makes sure that you are giving credit to all individual authors whose work has been referred to for taking inspiration for your article.The blog on the A to Z of referencing will help you clear all your doubts about referencing.Any information or material taken from outside work must be referenced and cited to make it more trustworthy and real.

The significance and purpose of referencing

Referencing is a method to recognize the support of other writers whose ideas and language have helped write an academic article.You respect and acknowledge the writer’s intellectual property rights by utilizing their work as a source in the reference list.You can utilize any thoughts, arguments, and perceptions put out in the public domain by other writers. These writers dedicate most of their time and efforts to research and writing for themselves, their employers, or publication. The A to Z of referencing is a way to thank them for their help with your assignment writing. Referencing is also a great technique to stay away from plagiarism.But do you know how to utilize it; this blog on the A to Z of referencing will guide you.

Bibliography and its formatting guidelines

A bibliography is a documentation of writings, such as books, journals, etc., on a particular topic written by a specific author. In general, there are three kinds of annotations performing the work of bibliography, and they are briefly discussed in this blog on the A to Z of referencing.

Analytical bibliography: It records the journey of a specific work beginning from the manuscript to the published article or book. It consists of information concerning the physical appearance of a cited source, like, the number of pages in it, illustrations, and the kind of binding used.

Annotated bibliography: They are short notes discussing why a specific work was chosen. It can be a summary or reflection of the work and an explanation of its relevance for a specific study.

Enumerative bibliography: It is one of the common forms of bibliography. It is a compilation of sources utilized to carry out research. It is organized in alphabetical order or as per a specific characteristic.

The main purpose and advantage of writing a bibliography is to avoid plagiarism.The next purpose of it is to allow the reader to authenticate the information in the bibliography. If you provide credit or list the sources at the end of your paper for the quotes inserted, opinions used, ideas paraphrased, etc., readers might comprehend the source of the statements and the comments.

Different bibliography templates are prescribed for different formatting guidelines like MLA or APA format.To write a bibliography in both formats, you need to alphabetically arrange the sources as per the author’s surname, and in case there are no authors, it must be arranged as per the title. The next section of the blog on the A to Z of referencing will deal with citations and their types.

Citations and their types

A citation mostly includes the author’s surname, year of publication, and page number.Page numbers are not necessary to be included at all times and in all citation styles.All citation styles have specific information needed to insert a citation in a work, for instance, how to arrange it, where to insert it, the type of punctuation to be included, the punctuations to be excluded, etc.

Citations permit you to credit other writers for their intellectual and creative works that you used to back up your research.Further, it can also be utilized to find a specific source and avoid plagiarism. Let us inform you clearly in this blog on the A to Z of referencing that there are two ways to cite a work in your paper−

• In-text citations

• Footnotes or endnotes

The above two forms are derived from popular referencing styles like APA, Harvard, Chicago Manual of Style, Oxford, and MLA. We will discuss citations in detail in the followingsections of this blog on the A to Z of referencing.

Instructions for in-text citations

There are certain rules you must note while working on in-text citations in any of the referencing styles.A few rules are listed below in this blog on the A to Z of referencing.

• In APA style, in-text citations are to be placed within parenthesis before placing the period or as a part of a sentence mentioning the year and page number in parenthesis

• When inserting in-text citations as a footnote, use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3)

• Use curved or square brackets as mentioned in the specific referencing guideline

• Superscripts are another form of inserting in-text citations, and they are placed after the period

Despite the specific formats, you must maintain consistency while inserting in-text citations in any form in a paper.In the next part of the blog on the A to Z of referencing, we will point out a few examples of in-text citations.

In-text citation at the end of a sentence:

…as the person said, people are still to see the darkest days (Sharon, 2000, p. 10).

In-text citations with numbers in square brackets:

…as the person said, people are still to see the darkest days. [1]

In-text citations with numbers in round brackets:

…as the person said, people are still to see the darkest days. (1)

In-text citations with a superscript:

…as the person said, people are still to see the darkest days.1

Guide to the A to Z of referencing

In this section of the blog on the A to Z of referencing, we will discuss the author-date referencing style under different referencing styles, their definitions, and their characteristics.

Individuals whose papers relate to physical, natural, and social sciences use author-date citation style. The citation style is quite common in these fields.

In the author-date citation style, you must include the author’s last name, year of publication, and page number.At the same time, the source on the bibliography page will also contain the same information along with other information in a detailed manner.Including the author’s last name and the year in the in-text citation and bibliography page helps to locate the source quickly.

1. Components of author-date referencing:

• Last name of the author

• Publication year

• Title of the work

• Publisher details

• Retrieved date (for online sources)

The above is the basic format of a source entered into a bibliography list. Now it is time to go into further details of this referencing format and citing in this blog on the A to Z of referencing.

2. In-text citations: The author’s surname and year of publication are contained in an in-text citation. It is vital to mention the year in parentheses.If you are using the citation as a part of the text, do not include a comma after the author’s name and before the year. For instance, Sharon (2020) said that he was at war. If a source has more than two authors, mention the surname of both authors. For instance, Sharon and Kelly (2020) said he was at war. If you follow the APA style, and a source has three or more authors, you need to include the first author’s surname followed by the abbreviation, ‘et al.’ Et al. stands for, and others. For instance, Sharon et al. (2020) said he was at war. However, the surnames of all authors must be included in the reference list.

3. Page numbers: Mention page numbers as a part of in-text citation when a referencing style demands its inclusion or when incorporating a direct quote in your paper.The page number must be separated from the year by a comma. For instance, Sharon (2020, p. 10) said he was at war.

Sample author-date referencing:

1. Book

Reference list entry (in alphabetical sequence)

Sharon, M and Kelly, J. (2020). The quiet. London: Simon Books & Co.

In-text citation

(Sharon & Kelly, 2020, p. 10)

2. E-Book

Reference list entry (in alphabetical sequence)

Sharon, M and Kelly, J. (2020). Strength of life. London: Simon books & Co. ProQuest eBrary.

In-text citation

(Sharon & Kelly, 2020, p. 10)

Overview and features of APA style

To make the process of reading scientific writings a little easier for readers, a batch of psychologists, business managers, and anthropologists met in 1929 to make a simple set of guidelines known as APA style.The requirements of how to write and communicate through a paper following the APA style are listed below in this blog on the A to Z of referencing:

• How to organize the text

• Write in a specific style

• Cite sources

• Format a paper for publication

To write a paper following the APA guidelines, you need to adhere to the below points mentioned in this blog on the A to Z of referencing:

• Help readers to concentrate well on the discussion part without troubling them with non-essential formatting

• Build your credibility by exhibiting awareness about your readers and their needs

• Come up with understandable resources for the readers so that they can gather more information from the source

There are a few standard guidelines for formatting a title page in the APA format. They are listed below in this blog on the A to Z of referencing:

• Paper title

• Writer’s name

• Name of the university/department

• Course name and number

• Instructor’s name

• Due date of the assignment

Make sure that the paper’s title is bold, centered, and written in ‘title case.’ There must be a gap of three to four lines from the top margin of the page when you insert the above details.

In this blog onthe A to Z of referencing, it is time to look into the sample APA referencing and citations.

1. Book

Format for reference on author source and three author source

Last name of the author, Initial. (Publication year). Title of the publication. Place of publication: Publisher name.

Last name of the author, Initial., Last name of the second author, Initial., & Last name of the third author, Initial. (Publication year). Title of the publication. Place of publication: Publisher name.

Sharon, M. (2020). The quiet. London: Simon Books & Co.

Sharon, M., Kelly, J., &Simon, J. (2020). The quiet. London: Simon Books & Co.

Format for citation

(Last name of the author, year)

(Sharon, 2020)

(Sharon et al., 2020)

2. Thesis and dissertations

Format for reference on author source and three author source

Last name of the author, Initial. (Year). Dissertation or thesis title (Publication no. if applicable) [Doctoral dissertation, Institution name]. Database name. URL

Sharon, M.K. (2022). Dangers of AI in Studying (Publication No. 223344556743) [Doctoral dissertation, Murdoch University]. ProQuest Dissertation & Global Thesis.

3. Journal article

Last name of the author, Initials., & Last name of the second author, Initials. (Year). Article title. Journal title, volume number(issue number), page number. DOI

Sharon, M., & Kelly, J.(2020). The dangers of substance abuse. Journal of Life Sciences, 56(4), 56. https://doi.org/456/890-6678

Overview and features of Chicago Style

The Chicago Manual of Style was first published in 1906, and since then, it has been revised and edited a number of time by the University of Chicago.The Chicago referencing style is followed in many fields, and it is highly recognized in the US for publication purposes. Chicago style follows two forms of referencing, author-date and notes and bibliography. In the author-date style, the citations are included in a paper in the form of in-text citations consisting of the author’s last name and the year. In contrast, citations are placed in the form of footnotes in notes and bibliography form. A numeral is inserted within the text, and the same numeral appears at the bottom of the page with information about the source.We will use samples based on author-date referencingfor this blog on the A to Z of referencing.

In this blog onthe A to Z of referencing, it is time to look into the sample Chicago referencing and citations.

Last name of the author, First name. Year. Book title. Place of publication: Publisher name.

(Author year)

Sharon, Alexander. 2020. Introduction to Referencing Guides and its Applications. Oxford: Penguin Books.

(Sharon 2020)

Overview and features of MLA style

The Modern Language Association developed the MLA referencing style for students pursuing the language and literature course. It was developed to structure the papers consistently. In the MLA style, sources are cited under the heading ‘Works Cited,’ and in-text citations comprise the last name of the author of the source, followed by the page number.

In this blog onthe A to Z of referencing, it is time to look into the sample MLA referencing and citations.

Last name of the author, first name. Book Title. Publisher, year.

(Author page number)

Sharon, Alexander. Introduction to Referencing Guides and its Applications in Academics. Canongate, 2020.

(Sharon 50)

Overview and features of Harvard style

Harvard system is also an author-date style. The references are placed at the end of appear in alphabetical order. Different universities have different formats of Harvard referencing, and each of them differs basis the placement of punctuation and the usage of connectors between two or more authors.We will be following the Harvard referencing style prescribed by the University of Sheffield for this blog on the A to Z of referencing.

In this blog onthe A to Z of referencing, it is time to look into the sample Harvard referencing and citations.

Last name of the author, Initials. (Year) Title. Place of publication: Publisher.

(Author, year)

Sharon, M. (2020) Introduction to Referencing Guides and its Applications in Academics. Oxford: Penguin Books.

(Sharon, 2020)

Explain digital object identifier (DOI)

DOI is used to identify an object, whether physical, abstract, or digital. It helps to keep track of things.It is designed for the use of both humans and machines. It uniquely identifies and accesses an object.Adding DOI to the reference list has gained a lot of significance these days. DOI must be included when inserting a journal resource in a reference list.

Wrapping up

If you want to be free from copyright issues while writing a paper, it is better to reference all outside sources. Data’s transparency and easy reach has made copying and plagiarizing a regular activity. But this activity is not acceptable at academic institutions or publication houses that look for original content.

In this blog on the A to Z of referencing, we have learned how maintaining authenticity in a paper in referencing and citations can bring a sense of confidence and credibility.The different referencing styles and samples mentioned in this blog on the A to Z of referencing will surely help readers how to give due credit to an author whose work has been used.

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