Nowadays, students are becoming more and more demanding in their academic research and need to have a clearer understanding of citation styles and formatting norms. In this article, we will have an in-depth discussion on this issue and hope that it can help you in your teaching.
First of all, we need to understand that literature citation in the paper is very important. A good citation format not only shows the student’s intellectual rigour, but also improves the quality of the paper, which leads to higher marks. British teachers pay special attention to this, they will carefully check every citation detail, so we must strictly follow the academic rules for citation.
Citation Methods
There are two common citation methods: text citation and citation list format.
1. Textual citation is embedding the original text of an extract into one’s own statement to show its source. When citing an author’s opinion, it should usually include the () symbol at the end of the sentence and identify the author’s name as well as the year in which the article was published. Such citations relate to both scholarly works and a variety of sources such as media reports.
2. Citation list format is the entire cited literature in order at the end of the article. This format applies to books, journals, online resources and other types of literature, writing format varies by type. For example, book book entries should contain the last name, first name abbreviation, year of publication, book title, edition and publisher; journal article entries should contain the name, age, article title, magazine or newspaper name, issue number, page number and website address. It is worth noting that web resources and electronic magazines need to be linked when citing them.
Second, special conditions to deal with
Sometimes cited in the literature there may be overlapping issues, that is, before and after different years or even within the same year there are two authors to write books on the same subject. How should this be marked? Two solutions are provided here: one is to add the corresponding year and number mark after the author’s name, e.g. Author 2005a/b; the other is to add a backslash () in front of the name of the author of the subsequent year’s modification, which indicates the revised book on this basis.
III. Other Notes
1. When filling in journal entries, make sure that the data are accurate. There should be no mistakes in every word and sentence, as it involves personal credibility.
2. When numbering citations, a certain format should be followed. E.g. “(Smith, 1995) ” indicates that Smith published a certain literature in 1995. Legion rigorous citation numbering will add a professional touch to the paper and impress the reader.
3. The number of citations is also a key factor. Generally speaking, a complete dissertation needs to cover multiple areas of knowledge and needs to cite a lot of literature to prove its point. However, it is also important to avoid citing too many original texts, otherwise the essay will be too long and not readable.
Overall, an excellent dissertation must have the skills and norms of citation correctly mastered. An accurate and reliable system of citing literature helps to enhance the persuasiveness and credibility of your arguments and makes your research results more authoritative. We hope that the above introduction will be useful to you in your teaching.
Thanks for reading!
