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.