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Citation styles are an important part of the academic world. Without them, students could not format and style their papers correctly and consistently. There are a number of different citation styles that guide the students in formatting their papers and references.
While some citation styles may be more common and widespread than others, all of them are used by some specific and specialized audiences.
In this guide, we will help you understand why learning about these citation styles is important as a student and how they help students in styling their papers accordingly and in the right format and design.
Since many of them have the same format and style, students often get confused about how to differentiate between them.
Below, you will read all about it in detail and learn everything easily and effectively.
A citation style is a set of rules and guidelines that defines how a student should cite and refer to the sources used in his papers. Using existing research and citing other researchers’ work is a common practice among students and people working in the field of research. When using the quotes, ideas, and phrases from other works, adding a citation and reference is necessary.
In its absence, the work could be counted as plagiarized, which is a serious academic offense. Plagiarism could land you in dire trouble as your teacher or research supervisor could reject your work. Therefore, citing everything is important and besides plagiarism, it also helps in proving your research claims and substantiating your research claims and findings.
Depending on the kinds of subjects and fields of studies, it would be difficult to assert the different types of citation styles. There are a number of different references but only 3 are the most common citation styles; APA, MLA, and Chicago. However, there are a number of other citation styles by discipline and research paper citation styles that are used by students studying in specific and different fields.
Don’t know which citation style will be the best for your paper? Many students face the same dilemma when trying to choose the right paper and citation style. In many cases, your teacher will tell you about the citation format that you will need to follow in your paper but in some cases, your teacher may expect that you know which style to use and implement in your work.
Don’t worry, finding the right citation format and style is not that difficult either. Below, we have mentioned some forms of academic citation styles and the disciplines in which they are commonly used.
All of these referencing styles are developed by different associations and used by several different subjects and learners. Many of them have minimal changes and this makes it difficult to remember and spot the differences. However, some formatting and citation styles are distinctly different from others and are developed for specialized subjects only.
When choosing a citation style for your paper, you must also consider the purpose of writing or producing the work. For example, if you are writing a submission for a journal then the kind of citation style depends on the journal’s guidelines and requirements. Similarly, if you are a student and working on your paper then APA, MLA, and Chicago will be the most common citation styles.
All the referencing and citation styles could be different in some or many ways. What makes these styles differ from one another? These styles have different rules and guidelines about how to format the paper, references, in-citations, appendices, and list entries. As we have mentioned before, the changes are subtle and when implementing a citation style, you need to be careful about it.
Besides different kinds of citation styles, there are different in-text citation styles also. Below, we have explained them in an easy to understand way:
The in-text citation and list of references are different for every citation style and when working with them, we suggest that you study the respective citation style in depth.
There are many things that make these citations from each other. In the below sections, we have discussed these differences in detail.
APA style is one of the most commonly used citation styles. It is used by both the researchers and the students. The style is easy to follow and this is why students prefer it over Chicago and other types of referencing styles. Commonly, this citation format is used in the fields of engineering and business as it is more precise and to the point.
Some key guidelines for APA citation are given below:
Stewart, D. & Simmons, M. (2010). The Business Playground: Where Creativity and Commerce Collide. Berkeley, USA: New Riders Press.
All of these guidelines will help you format your paper accordingly.
MLA referencing style is different from APA and is commonly used by the people associated with the fields of humanities like art, literature, linguistics, religion, and others. This citation style allows the students and writers to add detailed and well-researched references into the essay or paper’s body. After APA, the MLA citation style is the most widely used.
Main MLA citation style guidelines are given below:
Stewart, Dave, and Mark Simmons. The Business Playground: Where Creativity and Commerce Collide. New Rider Press, 2010.
MLA style is considered easier than other citation styles as the students do not have to prepare and add a title page separately. However, before formatting your paper in MLA style, it is important that you learn and understand the basics of this referencing style.
The Chicago style is mostly used in the field of History. The Chicago Manual of style manages both Chicago and Turabian citation styles. The Chicago style is used by the researchers and academic journal contributors while the Turabian style is used by the students.
Some key components of Chicago and Turabian citation style are given below:
The Chicago citation style is different from other referencing formats and styles and this is why learning and understanding it before implementation is important and necessary.
The IEEE citation is a specialized type of citation that is developed to be used by the fields of engineering and other technical fields. Since it is used by the students and researchers of technical fields, it has minimum content and it is based more on numbers and numerical values and explanations.
When citing in the IEEE style, take care of the following things:
The citation style is closely related to the Chicago style and in case you do not find anything clarified in the IEEE style, you can refer to the Chicago style guide.
The ASA citation style is more commonly used in the field of Sociology. The style is somewhat like working with APA as its title page and other details are quite similar to the APA style. Still, there are some differences that make it different from other referencing styles.
Some of the things that you must take care of when working with the ASA style are given below:
Citing in ASA style could be simpler than other styles as it is somewhat like the APA citation style but you need to keep the differences in view when working with it.
Harvard citation style is an unofficial citation style that is commonly used by the students of economics and humanities. The style is like APA style and this may confuse students when working on it. However, there are some minor things and elements that make them different from each other.
Below are some easy to follow guidelines for Harvard citation:
The changes and differences could be minor between Harvard and APA style, therefore, when working with it, you must be careful with these changes.
The Oxford referencing style is specifically developed to be used by the students of law but students from other disciplines can also use it. It is also known as the OSCOLO style and is often regarded as the documentary-style citation. It is somewhat like the Chicago-style manual as it also has footnotes.
Below, we have given some important factors of the Oxford style citation:
Oxford style is different from others and you will have to follow set guidelines when working with it.
AMA style is the short form for the American Medical Association. The citation style is specifically used by the students of the medical field and is also used to style and format the publications and articles of medical journals. The style guide is published by the Oxford University Press and follows the numerical referencing method.
To work with the AMA style, follow the below key elements:
The style is somewhat like the IEEE style as it also uses a numerical system for citation and referencing purposes.
ACS stands for the American Chemical Society and the ACS style is commonly used by the society of chemicals studies. It is different from other citation styles as it is specifically developed by the editors and researchers of the chemical field.
It has the following important elements that you need to take for:
It may look similar to other citation styles but it is flexible and you can choose any citation pattern that is allowed in it.
The abbreviated form of the National Library of Medicine, the NLM style is developed to be used to cite the sources used and added in the writings and publications of the medical journals. Medical sources have different citation formats and the NLM style will help you understand and use them easily.
Below are the significant elements of the NLM style:
The citation style is commonly used to cite sources in medical journals and publications.
The American Anthropological Association is specifically developed to be used in the field of anthropology. The AAA style is a variation of the Chicago Manual of Style and, therefore, is closely related to it. However, it is a bit different from it.
Below, we have mentioned and explained some key elements of the AAA style below:
The AAA style is different from the Chicago style in the way that the main titles are not italicized.
The APSA style is specifically designed to be used by the students and researchers of the political science field. It is different from other styles and is not as common as other styles. When working with the APSA style, follow the below guidelines:
The APSA style is closely related to the Chicago manual. The list of references is arranged alphabetically and it will be titled ‘References’.
All the citation styles are different from each other. Since many of them are developed for specific fields of study, they could be entirely different from each other. The complete and comprehensive guides given here will help you understand these different citation styles and make your papers according to them.
Understanding different citation styles can be difficult for some students. In that case, the better option is to look for a custom essay writing service. A professional paper writer can write an essay for you according to your specified requirements and formats.
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There are two types of in-text citations used within the body of an APA paper to help your reader locate the corresponding reference list. Parenthetical citation is a brief note at the end or beginning of a sentence that cites source information, whereas narrative cite provides more detail about what was referenced.
IEEE citation style includes in-text citations, which refer to the full citation listed at the end of a paper. The reference list is organized numerically and not alphabetically.
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Caleb S. (Literature, Marketing)
Caleb S. has been providing writing services for over five years and has a Masters degree from Oxford University. He is an expert in his craft and takes great pride in helping students achieve their academic goals. Caleb is a dedicated professional who always puts his clients first.
Caleb S. has been providing writing services for over five years and has a Masters degree from Oxford University. He is an expert in his craft and takes great pride in helping students achieve their academic goals. Caleb is a dedicated professional who always puts his clients first.
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