How To Make References In Your Research Paper: Simple Tips

What is a research paper?

A research paper is an extended article that must contain your interpretation of a point. But most importantly, it must be supported by collective sources from others’ works. Though there is a fundamental difference between a science paper and a social science one- the structure will remain more or less same.

Why Citing References Is Important In A Research Paper?

When a critic evaluates your paper, he/she must be convinced that- it’s you who has done the study. Citing references confirms this fact. Also references provide a solid and realistic basis of your research paper. In the growing chaos regarding plagiarism, citations will always keep you safe from this accusation. Also for the further benefits of the posterity, references are extremely important.

Tips To Make References in Research Paper:

There are multiple formatting styles of references, though the most famous one is APA style (American Psychological Association). If you are a science student then Chicago style is a known format. Depending upon your stream and your guide’s preferences, you must structure your reference list. Below is given some simple tips that are applied for widely-used APA-

  • Your reference list must be entered as the last part of your paper. The relation between the list and the body of your essay is two-way related. It means, what sources you have included in the body, must be mentioned in the list and vice-versa.
  • The word ‘references’ must not be within quote, under-lined or bold- as the title.
  • The texts you put under ‘references’, there must be double-space between each of them.
  • When it comes to authors’ names, the last name should be mentioned as the first. And the first word is needed to be capitalized.
  • If you use multiple essays by same author, then you must cite these sources on the basis of chronological order. The oldest must be mentioned first and the recent one, last.
  • If you have taken a journal as a source, then you should follow the capitalization and punctuation same as they are done in the original journal title.
  • If you have mentioned inputs from books or important journals in the body of the essay, then in reference list- you should italicize their titles. But in case of short essays or journals as references, italicization, under-lining or quotation won’t do.

These are some of the tips that shall come handy in APA style. There are many more. Be careful when you make references in your paper as any error may lead to cancellation of it.

Tips, Hints And Bright Topics

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