A reference list is a list of all the sources you referenced in your work in a certain manner. When you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or include material from an outside source, you must cite that source in your references list, which must be properly formatted in APA style.
External sources include books, journals, websites, databases, and so on. Internal sources include your own ideas and thoughts. When you are quoting or referring to internal sources, you need to use quotation marks ("") or italics (**) to identify them. Failure to do so may result in your paper being rejected by the editor. Also, when you refer to your own work, it is referred to as self-citation and must also be included in your reference list.
In addition to identifying sources, another important function of the reference list is to provide readers with information about the original source. If possible, try to give the reader the opportunity to find out more about the source by including the publisher, date published, location, subject matter, and other relevant details.
Finally, the reference list should be listed in order of importance. This will help readers understand the basis on which you built your argument or conclusion.
Here is an example of a proper reference list: Miller, J. (2005). How to write a successful research paper. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
The author, date, title, and source components for each distinct in-text citation you employ for websites, magazines, and books are usually included in the references. However, there are rare exceptions when you do not add a reference citation for a source. In this case, we only list the title of the source along with its publication date inside the bibliography or acknowledgements section of your paper.
Each reference entry should include the following information: author's last name, first name if applicable, year published, location where the document was published, title of the document, type of document (e.g., book, article, chapter in book, journal article, magazine article, report, web page), abbreviation used to identify the document within its field, and URL address of the document.
In addition to these basic elements, more specific attributes of some sources may also be listed in the reference page. These include: the name of the company that publishes the document (if applicable); any relevant associations or groups; and the address of the publishing office for certain publications such as newspapers and journals. You should provide full addresses for all sources, including unpublished sources such as websites and documents that are only available through a search engine.
It is acceptable to use abbreviations in reference pages if they are widely used by other scholars in your field.
The fundamentals of a journal article reference list entry:
The goal of citing or recording the sources utilized in your study is threefold: This properly credits the authors of the words or ideas that you used in your paper. It enables individuals reading your work to find your sources in order to understand more about the concepts you present in your article. Finally, it provides evidence of your understanding of both the history of your topic and the language used to discuss it.
Citing sources is important for two main reasons. First, scholars expect their work to be cited. If others can verify that your idea comes from one particular source, then they know where to go to find further information on the subject. Second, citing sources shows that you have read other works on your topic and are aware of what has come before. In fact, good writers often borrow from other authors' work without acknowledging them, so keeping track of these debts is also part of good writing style.
There are several different ways that researchers cite sources. For example: name-year-page. The second method is the most common and goes hand in hand with using references pages or bibliographies. When you use this method, instead of giving the entire title of the book or article, you give only its first few words followed by the page number. For example, if the article You Are Citing is on page 14 of Your Book, you would say "on page 14".
The MLA documentation style recognizes sources by including the author's names and the page(s) to which you are referring in parenthesis in the body of your essay; complete bibliographical data are given in a List of Works Cited, or bibliography, at the conclusion of the essay.
You should include references in the body of your essay using footnotes or endnotes. Endnotes are primarily used with books with titles that are important for understanding the text. Footnotes are used with articles, magazines, newspapers, and online resources. Using both types of notes allows you to provide more information about where readers can find out more about your topic.
When writing your bibliography, be sure to follow these simple steps:
1. Start with the title of the work being cited. This will help the reader know what kind of resource it is. For example, if the work is a book, list the title and author only (no series or volume number). If the work is an article, magazine, or newspaper, then list the author and date published are also useful to distinguish it from other works by the same author or on similar topics.
2. Include the location of publication if it is different than the place where the work was created (e.g., unpublished manuscript written by company founder in his office).
Answer: You must cite any material you take from a source, even if it is in the introduction of your article. Citing sources helps readers know where you are getting your information from and allows them to verify the facts presented by other authors.
In addition to being legally required, citing sources also improves your essay because it makes your work more professional looking. Although not all publishers require it, many of them prefer if you include references to sources in your article. For example, if you use several quotes or excerpts, you should give credit to the people who said them by including their names in the text or in a footnote.
Finally, properly cited sources make your essay more likely to be accepted by academic journals. Since researchers depend on others to provide accurate information about studies for which they are seeking data, it only makes sense that they would want to read articles that refer to those studies.
Citation styles vary but generally fall into three categories: author-year citation, date-date citation, or parenthetical citation. An "author-year" citation refers to an author's last name and year published with the word "et al." (for "and others") inserted between the name and the year.