The Process of Citing an Academic Paper Using Different Writing Styles

Dignified writers dedicate their lives to the topics of their choice. They live, breathe and eat these topics, and deliver works of art through their words, and provide much-needed information to the rest of the world. Imagine dedicating two years of your life towards research, and once you are done, and have it all on paper, a stranger comes along and gets all the credit for it. It would hurt, right?

Plagiarism is, unfortunately, one of the most common crimes we face in our society, and it cripples dignified writers across the globe. As a student, you have probably been warned severely against presenting plagiarized academic papers but have not put the consequences into perspective. Copying another writer’s work is basically theft, and you should avoid it through proper citation

Citation provides an opportunity for writers to respect others and also give readers a chance to verify information. Through citation, you also promote another writer. When citing an academic paper, you will be expected to adhere to the academic paper format adopted. Here are some of the guidelines you should observe during citation.

Citing an Academic Paper Using APA Format

APA adopts an author-date citation style. For example, if the writer’s name is Peter. J. Field and 2005 is the date of publication you will write (Field, 2005) in the in-text citation. For a direct quotation, you can include the page number e.g. (Field, 2005, p.14).

Sometimes the book may have more than one author. In this case, you have to state all the authors at the first mention and consequent mentions use” et al.” for other writers. For example, (Field, Rossiter, Brown, & Green, 2005). Later on, you should write (Field et al., 2005).

In the Reference Section of your academic paper, you should include the author details, the year of publication, the title of the work, and the pages cited, and even the publisher. For example:

Chudley, R. and Greeno, R. (2004). Building construction handbook. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 23(4), 303-311.

Web pages should be cited just like books but if the author is unknown, use a few words from the title. If your source does not have a date, use n.d in place the date e.g., (Field, n.d). In your reference list, be sure to include the URL for the web page. The citation should include the Author(s), year of publication, the title, and then the URL.

Citation in MLA Format

Citing an academic paper in MLA format involves the use of parenthetical citation. This means that relevant source information is placed inside parentheses, after a quote or a paraphrase. Writers use the author-page style. The author’s name may appear as part of the text, but the page should always be included in the parenthesis. For example;

Field states that…(274)

…(Field 274)

The reference section should include full author details, the title of the work, the publisher, and the year of publication.

Field, Junior. Water Treatment Guides. Oxford UP, 2007.

When citing works without known authors, use the title if it is short, and place it in quotation. If the title is too long, write a part of it, and italicize it. You should also provide a page number if it is possible. For example:

“The Impact of Deforestation in Africa”.

The works will be cited as follows in the bibliography:

“The Impact of Deforestation in Africa.” Global Warming.1999.www.globalwarmingafrica.org/.Accessed 23^rd April 2012.

Citation in CMS Format

In the Notes and Bibliography (NB) system, you should include footnotes and endnotes, and a full bibliography at the end for full references. Footnotes are added at the end of each page while endnotes are compiled at the end of a chapter, or at the end of the entire document.

A superscript is usually placed in text and should correspond with the information in the footnote and the bibliography. If your work does not include a bibliography, then the first note for each source should include all details on the source. However, subsequent mentions should have an author’s surname, a shortened title, and a page number.

Academic Paper Citation Help

Different rules apply depending on the format, sources, and details available to readers. There are hundreds of rules that should be observed during writing, and it is challenging to remember all. Seeking professional help from paperperhour.com will help you save on time, but also ensure that all sources of information for your academic paper are cited properly. We ensure that your paper is plagiarism free, and that your paper is 100% original. For more information on citing an academic paper, contact paperperhour.com today.

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