How important is it to learn just the right way to cite references in the bibliography?
I am working on my paper and I have about 17 sources and fortunately I do have an access to my school’s library’s RefWork Online. Thus, I just have to provide the information and I get the references in any format that I wish. (MLA or APA)
However, I was just wondering if I will ever need to do it on my own such as for my thesis or the MPH project etc. and also do people actually learn how to do it or this is not something that anyone will worry about?!?
^Improper citations have cost people their grades. Some students have failed or their thesis was considered unacceptable because they did not cite properly.
eeeekkkk... thats exactly what I was worried about and even my prof. told me that you were on the right track but your citations were inconsistent, so I think it does matter.
Sahar.. any tips and tricks on how to learn it or you just get the hang of it if you keep your eyes and mind open while citing references?!?!
Like sahar mentioned, citations can make a huge difference.
I reckon I took citations easily during high school and got away with it. Later on, it cost me 5% of my final grade, as I took'em lightly and did not do it in proper format. That 5% made a huge difference, or so I feel.
I'm sure you can easily get hold of the method either at your educational institution, at a bookstore, or online.
I've lately been getting away with using www.easybib.com for citation. However, this same website costed me the 5%. That could be because at the time the website was doing it in APA, and not MLA. Now I believe it has switched over to MLA.
Simply put, not using it at all could equal to a zero, whereas using it improperly could cost you a lot of marks.
GtG -- what discipline are you in? Humanities, like English and History, usually use MLA. I think the sciences use APA. Still others use Chicago Style or some other one. Find out what system your institution wants you to use. There are lots of manuals online and at bookstores.
One tip I always give my students, when in doubt, cite.
Ya for humanities and arts, you normally use Chicago style. If your professor didn't mention any specific one, you can go with any style. Just make sure you are consistent with it through out the paper.
When writing a paper, always keep bibliography guide or a grammar book with you. Normally grammar books have proper guidelines for MLA, APA, and Chicago style.
It is not something you can memorize; you just get a hang of it with time.
Every department has its guidelines on how to do it. The Harvard style I believe is when you just put the Surname of the author and date (Dicks:1952), and the Oxford style which we had to do was much more complicated - author, title, pg, publisher, year. And then there are various notes in the footnotes like op.cit, Ibid etc.