How do you cite research?

[RobertX]

How do you cite your research when conducting research papers? Do you use MLA or APA?

I've been out of school for a long time, but I would still like to practise writing research papers that aren't accidentally copyright-infringing (not piracy, but plagiarism). I would like some pointers.

Please use the poll vote your favourite citation methods and here to tell why.

I am used to the MLA style in high school and college, and no profs have ever demanded APA or any other methods of citation.

I look forward to your response.

[workerbee]

The citation style you use will be determined by your professor, or if you are submitting a manuscript, by the journal or publisher.  If neither of these are applicable in your case, I would go with the style you're most comfortable and familiar with.

Writers in the humanities are usually asked to style according to Modern Language Association [MLA] or Chicago Manual of Style guidelines.  Students in the social sciences, on other hand, generally follow the American Psychological Association [APA] guidelines.  The primary reason for using a standardized reference format like MLA, APA, or Chicago is so that professional peers, researchers, and other academic readers can easily understand the syntax and easily check the citations.

No matter what citation style you adopt, therefore, it is imperative that your references be full and accurate.

(Personally speaking, I've never much liked the cluttered look of in-text citation used by the APA.)

[RobertX]

Thanks for the reply, workerbee.

Just so I know, what is the difference between Humanities and Social Sciences?

[workerbee]

Broadly speaking, the humanities are academic disciplines that study human culture.  These include, for example, ancient and modern languages, literature, philosophy, religion, art and musicology.  The humanities use methods that are primarily critical, or speculative, and have a significant historical element, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences.

In contrast, the social sciences have generally attempted to develop scientific methods to understand social phenomena in a generalizable way, though usually with methods distinct from those of the natural sciences.  They are concerned with society and the relationships among individuals within a society.  The main social sciences include economics, political science, human geography, demography and sociology.

There is, however, significant overlap between the two academic disciplines.  Fields of study such as anthropology, psychology, jurisprudence, history, and linguistics, all share characteristics of both.

For much more detail, see the Wikipedia entries on the Humanities and Social Sciences.

[hungerforknowledge]

How do you cite your research when conducting research papers? Do you use MLA or APA?

I've been out of school for a long time, but I would still like to practise writing research papers that aren't accidentally copyright-infringing (not piracy, but plagiarism). I would like some pointers.

Please use the poll vote your favourite citation methods and here to tell why.

I am used to the MLA style in high school and college, and no profs have ever demanded APA or any other methods of citation.

I look forward to your response.

For my research, I use citation managers. They provide a variety of styles, and I just look for the one that my journal requires. I remember spending days doing citations by hand . . . nightmares!

[RobertX]

Are citation managers usually integrated into office suites?

[hungerforknowledge]

Are citation managers usually integrated into office suites?

Yes, they do so very well!  Here is a quick and good tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnqPjjKwEPk