Different fields use different citation styles

One obstacle that academic writers always meet is managing and citing the related references. There are many ways of citing existing research results in a research paper. The citation style sometimes depends on the academic discipline where the papers related. For example:

  • APA (American Psychological Association) is used by Education, Psychology, and Sciences
  • MLA (Modern Language Association) style is used by the Humanities
  • Chicago Style Essay (CSE) is generally used by Business, History, and the Fine Arts
  • IEEE Style:  widely used by engineering, computer science, and information technology.

Students and researchers should to consult with the graders / professors or the journal submission guidelines to determine what is required in your specific course.

Watch out for these common errors

  • Note format uses first name last name, bibliography uses last name, first name.
  • In your notes, do not reuse numbers. Each citation gets a new number.
  • Pay attention to indents
    • Notes use a first line indent;
    • A bibliography uses a hanging indent.
  • A bibliography goes in alphabetical order by author (or title if there is no author).
  • Notes are numbered and are listed in the order the sources are used.
  • Don’t put Works Cited at the top of your bibliography – that is MLA style.