University of Szeged Klebelsberg Library
Within the broader scope of literature management, this lesson discusses the subject of citation in academic writing.
Two major topics are explored.
Defining the concept and characteristics of citation, plagiarism, and bibliographies
What is a citation style and what are reference management systems?
Citation (i.e., academic citation) is an essential tool in academic writing. By using citations, the author of the work, the researcher, establishes their place in a chain of research and in a tradition, with their own work either following up on the research and ideas of others or providing innovative contributions. Incorporating citations into a work allows the researcher to express their agreement or disagreement with regard to other related research. However, even entirely new and original research and insights need to be put into some kind of framework, which, of course, also requires the use of citations.
A citation is a reference that authors use in their own work to point to an idea or a finding that originates from another author, with the specific bibliographic source of that idea or finding indicated.
Citations can be categorized in several ways.
It is important to make sure that all citations in a text are correct and that respective sources are clearly identifiable in the relevant bibliography.
Using a quotation without citing the original author constitutes plagiarism* .
Plagiarism is the practice of using or copying someone else’s idea or work and pretending that you thought of it or created it.
Collins Online Dictionary
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/plagiarism
Plagiarism is a rather complex matter. This is because, in addition to the most obvious cases of plagiarism (i.e., the intellectual theft of an entire work or one or more chapters of a work), it may manifest itself in less conspicuous forms as well. These include the reproduction of an idea or a finding without citation, or even the writing of a paper that contains nothing but quotations without any insights originating from the author of the paper.
In academia, plagiarism is not only considered to be a serious ethical offence but it also involves some form of disciplinary action. In addition, with increasing digitization, plagiarism detection services are becoming more and more reliable in helping to check whether academic integrity has been compromised.
Like many libraries, the SZTE Klebelsberg Library, too, provides a plagiarism-checking service.
In-text citations are not a substitute for a bibliography that must be included at the end of a written work.
In its original sense, the term ‘bibliography’ refers to an organized list of titles of essential documents relevant to a particular subject, often used for reference. Today, it is more commonly understood to be a section included in a written work to provide a list of the sources cited in the work, i.e., a list of the literature used by the author.
Bibliographies come in different formats, including:
The descriptive units of a bibliography, which provide information about the documents, are called bibliographic records*. As entries in a reference list, bibliographic records are comprised of mandatory data elements: author or editor (if any), title, publication, and/or access information.
Bibliographic record
A document description unit, which contains the bibliographical data necessary for the identification of the work in a uniform structure.
The elements that should be included in a bibliographic record when citing different types of documents are specified by various standards and in guides for citation styles. Citation standards and citation style* guides also provide rules on the structuring and formatting of references, covering matters such as highlighting in italics or bold, or using punctuation marks.
’Citation style’ refers to a consistent way of formatting references and citations to the sources used in a work, including the works, thoughts, and findings of others.
When it comes to academic publications, citation and the management of citations are of great significance. In terms of managing citations, authors can rely on two major types of tools for help: citation style guides and reference management systems.
“Citation styles are rules on how to cite sources in academic writing. These citation guidelines and referencing styles may vary across academic disciplines. […] The guidelines of different citation styles are usually published in an official handbook detailing the explanations of the citation styles, the examples, and the instructions.”
Citation Styles in Research Writing.
Formplus: https://www.formpl.us/blog/citation-style
“A citation style is a set of established rules and conventions for documenting sources. Citation styles can be defined by an association, such as the Modern Language Association (MLA), publisher, such as the University of Chicago Press, or journal, such as The New England Journal of Medicine.”
Brown University Library
https://libguides.brown.edu/citations/styles
There are practically thousands of citation styles, which are typically named after the organizations responsible for their creation (e.g., APA, Chicago, Harvard, MLA). These names are also used to indicate which style should be used by authors of academic works.
It is important to note that, for any piece of academic writing, particular attention should be paid to checking citations and bibliographies, in terms of both accuracy and consistency, as well as to ensuring that the style of citation used complies with the relevant citation guidelines.
“Reference management systems are used to store, organise, and share reference collections. A particular advantage is the simple formatting of citations and bibliographies in scientific papers.”
Reference Management Systems.
Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry: https://www.biochem.mpg.de/7024966/BibMgmt
“Reference management software systems are powerful tools used to create, organize, store, and share references for manuscripts. These provide a complete set of tools that enables the researcher to focus on delivering a cohesive and fully-referenced research paper.”
Bouchrika, Imed: Best Reference Management Software in 2023
https://research.com/software/best-reference-management-software
Reference management systems may be accessed in several ways. Whereas some systems can only be accessed online, other systems can only be used if installed on a device; and there are also others that combine the two approaches. In addition, some services are only available upon purchase or as part of subscription plans, while many offer free access.
The best-known reference management systems are EndNote, Mendeley, RefWorks, and Zotero.
To determine which service may be the most suitable for a given purpose, authors can rely on written comparisons available online, such as the one in the document cited above or the one on Wikipedia.
But what does a reference management system do?
In conclusion, it is worth taking the time to learn how to use reference management systems, as they can save a lot of time when it comes to managing references and bibliographies in academic papers.