A Beginner’s Guide to Citation Styles in Assignment Writing

What is Citation Style?

Citation style are guidelines created for the purpose of academic writing. To cite sources at the end of the page. Citation style is used to avoid plagiarism because whenever we use a quotation, statistical data, or paraphrase, we are supposed to cite the source. There are different ways to present your citations, each is dependent on the source you are citing and where you are using it, like for academic writing, or online writing work.

While citing sources for academic writing, one needs to understand that there are different types of citation rules set by each University and they are to be followed strictly.

Although, one can use citation style according to the given instructions in their academic books. Other than that, there are three citation styles that are the most commonly used ones - parenthetical style, numerical citations, and note citations.

Find out the table below to see the different styles of citation in these three citation styles:

Types of Citations - Parenthetical, Numerical, and Note

The different types of Citation Styles in Assignment Writing are used in writing - The main approaches of citation styles are:

Parenthetical Citations

Integrated citations use the key elements at the relevant places in the text and enclose them in parentheses. More often than not it consists of the author’s last name and the year of publication (author-date) with a page number if necessary. In some cases, the publication date is excluded, and only the author and the page number are given (author-page). This approach is common in such writing typology as APA, MLA and Harvard among others.

Example (APA): (Smith, 2020, p. 45)

Example (MLA): (Smith 45)

Numerical Citations

In opposite to the notes, numerical citation styles involved numbering each source as it is used in the text and can be put in brackets or in cases in the upper index. This particularly refers to the numbers in a entry listed at the end of the sources placed at the last page of the document. This type of systems is applied in sciences and technical fields for example, styles such as IEEE and Vancouver.

Example: [1] or ¹

Note Citations

Notes citation reinstate the full detail of the source in footnotes or end notes. In the text, a raised number is placed in a circle, which points out that there is a note to which the reader refers when the bottom page or the document end is like the footnote. It is often used in the Chicago Manual of Style.

Example in text: Originally, Smith formulated the theory.¹

Corresponding footnote: J. Smith, The Title of the Work (Publisher, Year), p. XXX.

In addition to citation formats within the text, citation styles similarly format reference lists/references sections, including issues like capitalization, order of information, and italics. Moreover, lots of style guides provide more general recommendations as to the layout of the text, spacing and punctuation, numeral notation, etc.

These citation methods are important to consider when writing academically, as they are important for avoiding plagiarism and within effective communication.

Understanding Citation Styles in Assignment Writing

Through citation styles there is a way of organizing proper referencing thus promoting easy understand and use in the scholarly communication. They stipulate methods of referring to sources in the text, in footnotes or endnotes, and at the end of papers. Picking the right citation style will therefore depend with the field of study, the publisher, or your teacher.

APA Citation Style

APA is one of the popular citation styles, especially used in the social sciences as well as psychology, education, and sociology. APA citation style recommends the use of author-date system of in text citations helping in identification of up-to-date literature./p>

In-Text Citations:

Further, APA style in-text citations are author, year format located within parentheses. When embracing direct quotations, it is also necessary to indicate the page number.

Example:

(Smith, 2020, p. 15)

Reference List:

In the end of your assignment, you should add a features list of all cited sources labeled “References.” Every source used for the subject entries should list the author or authors, the year of publication, the title of the specific work, and the title of the specific publication./p>

Example:

Smith, J. A. (2020). This element of social behavior The cognitive theory of how the mind works seeks to understand social behavior. New York, NY: Academic Press.

MLA Citation Style

The MLA citation style is best used in humanities, especially in literature, arts and other related disciplines. While citing sources within a text MLA uses the author-page method of in-text referencing.

In-Text Citations:

In-text citation in MLA style consist of the author’s last name followed by the number of the page without a comma and placed in parentheses.

Example:

(Smith 22)

Works Cited:

At the end of your assignment, make a “Works Cited” page where sources are given according to the first letter of the author’s last name. Every contribution should be referenced by the author’s name, title of the piece, publication information, and mode of publication.

Example:

Smith, John. Exploring Literary Themes. Printed in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Chicago Style Citations

The Chicago Manual of Style offers two citation systems: Notes and Bibliography system that is applied in humanities and Author-Date system which is popular in sciences and social sciences.

Notes and Bibliography:

This system produces footnotes or endnotes for citations in the text with bibliographies.

Example of a Footnote:

John Smith, Historical Perspectives (Chicago: The concept of significant’ is carefully developed by Sianan Doucette in her book titled Significant: Sustainable Fashion in A Monumental Moment (Chicago University of Chicago Press, 2018) 45.

Bibliography Entry:

Smith, John. Historical Perspectives. Chicago: This work publishes with the help of University of Chicago Press in 2018.

Author-Date:

This also has in-boots Chicago style citations using the author’s last name and the year of publication similar to the APA style.

Example:

(Smith 2018, 45)

Reference List Entry:

Smith, John. 2018. Historical Perspectives. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Harvard Referencing

Author-date system which is also referred to as Harvard system is preferred by a number of fields of study. In-text citations use included the author’s name and publication year.

In-Text Citations:

Harvard referencing In text citation system involves the use of the author’s last name of the work used together with the year of the publication in brackets.

Example:

(Smith, 2017)

Reference List:

A reference list must be placed at the end of the paper, labeled “References,” and all the sources used in the paper have to be arranged in alphabetical order based on the author’s last name. In case of each entry the author should be identified, publication year, title of work and place of publication.

Example:

Smith, J. (2017). Thematic Issue-on New Directions in Environmental Science. London: Green Press.

1. Parenthetical Citation Styles

Parenthetical citation styles provide citation details (such as the author’s name and year of publication) immediately after the information used in the document, in brackets.

APA writing style also known as American Psychological Association style of writing.

Use in: Information related to humanities like psychology, sociology and education.

Citation Format: Author, Year

Example:

In-text: (Smith, 2020)

Reference: Smith, J. (2020). The Study of Social Science. New York: Academic Press.

Explanation: APA format centres on author-date to bring out the current and recent literature. It is used frequently in subject areas related to psychology, education, other social sciences.

Works Cited Page (Writing Center).

Use in: Art Integrated Area: fine arts, literature, history and languages.

Citation Format: Author, Page number

Example:

In-text: (Smith 45)

Works Cited: Smith, John. Studies in Literature. New York: Fiction Press, 2020.

Explanation: The most common citation style is the author-page and MLA is used mostly in literature, philosophy, arts.

Harvard Style

Use in: Different disciplines especially the business field and the sciences of health in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Citation Format: Author’s name, year of publication, page number if available

Example:

In-text: (Smith, 2020, p. 45)

Reference List: Smith, J. (2020). Economic Trends. Cambridge: Global Publishing.

Explanation: Harvard is an author-date style which will be relevant for a large number of disciplines including economy, business and social sciences.

Chicago Author-Date Style

Use in: Social sciences, natural and other sciences closely related to them.

Citation Format: Author, Year

Example:

In-text: (Smith 2020)

Reference List: Smith, John. 2020. The Future of Technology. Chicago: Tech Press.

Explanation: Chicago Author-Date citation format is widely known in areas where the latest information is used coupled with the author-date citation style.

Turabian Style (Author-Date)

Use in: Taken mainly by students to do historical, scientific, social science related writing.

Citation Format: Author, Year of publication, page number where the facts presented in the study were found (optional)

Example:

In-text: (Smith 2020, 67)

Bibliography: Smith, John. 2020. Analyzing History. Chicago: University Press.

Explanation: Otherwise known as Chicago’s Author-Date, Turabian is a simplified version of Chicago, used mainly in research papers and other related documents.

2. Numerical Citation Styles

In numerical citation styles, one is expected to refer to the sources with a number and uses this in the body of the text. The numbers of the entries in the bibliography or reference list correspond to the numbers used in the text.

Vancouver Style

Use in: Bio-medical sciences; health and medical sciences; clinical, veterinary, dental and allied medical sciences; pharmaceutical sciences.

Citation Format: Numbered citations

Example:

In-text: It has also been reported from several studies that the treatment has positive outcome [1].

Reference List: [1] Smith, J. Vaccines in health, a brief overview. J Med Sci. 2020;25(3):123-130.

Explanation: Vancouver style uses numbers in-text for citations, then follows it by an alphabetical list of numerical references in order.

LAE Process (Law Association for Computing)

Use in: These are engineering computer science telecommunications.

Citation Format: Numbered references which are listed in order of their use

Example:

In-text: According to the present developments discussed in literature [3], this method is promising.

Reference List: [3] J. Smith, “Advanced Computing,” IEEE Transactions IEEE Transactions on Computers, pp. 123-134, February 2020.

Explanation: This system is applied to technical fields such as electrical and computer engineering because specificity and conciseness are valued in such areas.

AMA style, American Medical Association style, AMA citation style

Use in: Medical and health sciences./p>

Citation Format: Numbered citations appear in the form of superscript numbers or numbers placed in brackets

Example:

In-text: New studies have backed this type of treatment¹.

Reference List: 1. Smith, J. Monitoring Medication on Physical Recovery. Med J Clin Res. 2020;18(4):45-50.

Explanation: AMA style provides numbers for reference citation making it brief and appropriate for the areas of study that include frequent referencing such as the medical profession./p>

3. Note Citation Styles

Endnote citation styles put the citation information into numbered notes at the end of a text. As a result, it is possible to provide comments on the sources; besides, these notes help to format the main text without interruptions.

Publication The Chicago Notes and Bibliography style

Use in: Humanities or any course related to history, arts, humanities, some social science related course.

Citation Format: It is perhaps worthy to use footnotes or endnotes and a correlated bibliography

Example:

Footnote: 1. John Smith, History of Science (New York: Academic Press, 2020), 123.

Bibliography: Smith, John. History of Science. New York: Academic Press, 2020./p>

Explanation: Heading details are presented in footnotes hence ideal when writing on historical topics, philosophy or other works that requires ample clarification in the notes.

University of Turabian – Notes and Bibliography

Use in: Past papers, social science, arts, and humanities.

Citation Format: Footnotes or endnotes with a bibliography

Example:

Footnote: 2. Emily Johnson, “Analyzing Poetry,” Journal of Literature, vol. 10, no. 2 (2020): 45.

Bibliography: Johnson, Emily. “Analyzing Poetry.” Journal of Literature 10, no. 2 (2020): 43-50.

Explanation: Turabian is basically the version that students use, which is less complex than any of the other versions; Chicago is cited in footnotes or endnotes, which can be accompanied by a bibliography at times.

MLA Style (Optional Notes)

Use in: Books, philosophy, and other forms of media, in short.

Citation Format: Writing style that preserves authors’ names in the page as author-page format with an optional footnote or annotation section.

Example:

Footnote: 1. Smith gives lots of words on the given theme in his work (Smith 2020, p. 123).

Works Cited: Smith, John. Studies in Literature. New York: Fiction Press, 2020.

Explanation: As mentioned earlier MLA primarily employs the parenthetical system of intext citation but permits the use of footnote where supplementary information is needed or could be expounded further.

Oxford Style (Note System)

Use in: History, law, and theology.

Citation Format: The use of such footnotes or endnotes should, however, correspond with bibliographic references used in the work.

Example:

In-text (footnote): Others disagree with this view and have the following to say.¹

Bibliography: 1. Smith, John. Legal Interpretation. Oxford: Some of the best source publishers include; Oxford University Press, year published 2020.

Explanation: Oxford note citation system is mostly used in the legal and historical field since full citation notes offer more freedom for explanations.

APA 7th Edition

APA 7th edition is the current writing style, which formats and citation style was created by the American Psychological Association. It is used across psychological, educational, social, and health sciences and provides the source for standardising the presentation of the results of research across various disciplines.

Perhaps the biggest change in the seventh edition is reduction of the formatting. For example, it now approves Singular they’ as the appropriate gender neutral pronoun meant for defending discrimination. Furthermore, while the previous editions used two spaces after a period, this edition only has one space.

Citation sources as per APA 7th Edition are included under the popular author-date format; this implies that a reader can identify source details within text easily. End of the quotation some comes as name of the author and the year of publication like this: Smith, 2020. But the new 7th edition call for the use of DOIs and URLs for electronic sources in what is simplified than before.

Citation and references in APA 7th Edition have been made clearer than before. For instance, the publisher’s location is no longer indicated, in contrast to the 6th edition, which makes entry of books and other print materials easier. The style also presents new rules to use such non-logarithmic source examples as social networks, podcasts, and YouTube videos.

Guide on Picking the Right Citation Style

Choosing the right citation style is important to increase the compliance level and to meet the established norms. Consider the following factors:

Discipline Requirements: Some of the fields have preferred citation styles for use in their field of specialization. For example, APA is preferred in social sciences disciplines, and MLA is more popular in humanities.

Instructor or Publication Guidelines: It is important always to use the citation style provided by the instructor or the publication used in the submission.

Assignment Type: Depending on the nature of the research work and type of sources employed, there may be specific instructions about citation and referencing style to be used with specific assignments only.

Writing Skills: Tips for Citation Styles

Consult Official Style Guides: Please consult the official manuals for more information on each procedure together with the examples.

Use Citation Generators: You can use some of the resources on the Internet to format the citations properly; however, ensure you do it manually at least once.

Stay Consistent: Make choice of one citation style and stick to it through the assignment, as it easily reflects the visibility of the work done.

Keep Track of Sources: It is important to keep records for all the sources used with a view of easily referencing them when writing the citations.

Seek Assistance, if Needed: Nevertheless, if you have any question on the particular citation specifications, you might wish to seek help of an assignment writing service.

Conclusion

Punctuation of sources, citation, and reference is the basis of writing in academic situations. It is crucial to understand the particular aspects of APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard Manual so as to meet the proper citation guidelines for the papers you are submitting so as to improve on their authority and academic value.