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Importance of citation in writing

We always think that writing is to show your thoughts and express this in the form your own words. However, writing is always based on the study you do about the subject, knowledge you build about the subject, information you collect about that subject and finally when you mix all of them and express in the form of your own words is called the proper writing which is then read by your readers.

While study about any of the topic you are writing something, sometimes you go through in-depth and knowledgeable information you collect from the outside world. You feel like mentioning that information in your own words, which is fine. However, you should also give the credit to the original writer who wrote all these info on the original source. You should mention his name, date of the publication, URL of the publication and so on. This is called citation.

A proper citation includes this information from the source information:

  1. The author’s name.
  2. The title of the source
  3. The publication date.
  4. The page number of the publication
  5. The reference page or url where all these info mentioned.

What is a citation?

Citation refers to the acknowledgment of the source of any content or information which is being reproduced or referenced in one’s publication. It involves attributing credit to the original creator and providing reference details. It is important to acknowledge the work and effort of those who created content for the reader by giving credit where credit is due. Appropriately citing the source of the content ensures that the original author/publisher receive the recognition they are due for their work. This is known as citation. Citing the sources used in an article or project is an important part of academic and professional writing. By citing your sources, you give credit to the authors of the material and demonstrate to your readers that you have done your research and come to your own conclusions. This not only validates your work but also prevents any potential accusations of plagiarism.

Formats of the citation

There are many formats which someone can use to show the citation of any source in his/her publication, however the most common citation formats are:

MLA (Modern Language Association) Style –  It is the formatting standard used by many English language arts and humanities journals. MLA style includes specific rules for formatting research papers and other publications, including citations. It requires the author’s last name as well as the page number in parenthesis when quoting a source or providing evidence of an argument.

APA (American Psychological Association) Style – APA Citation is the formatting style from the American Psychological Association used to cite sources in essays in the social and behavioral sciences in academic writing. APA style requires specific guidelines for formatting documents and citing references. This includes information about authors, dates, titles, and page numbers.

Chicago Manual of Style – The Chicago formatting style is widely used for academic writing in the social sciences, business, and other fields. It is the preferred style for citing sources within the humanities and is the official style of the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association APA). It follows a specific layout including in-text citations, footnotes or endnotes, margins, typeface, and page numbers.

Turabian Style – Turabian citation style is typically used to aid historians in the presentation of their findings, research, and theses. This style offers two distinct options – the ‘notes-bibliography system’ or the ‘author-date system’ – depending on individual preference.

In-Text Citation – References to authorial sources of information should be included in-text to demonstrate the utilization of external knowledge. Such in-text citations provide an easy-to-follow trail for readers to ascertain the source of the text and allow the originator of the idea to receive credit. In-text citations are utilized to provide readers with the opportunity to access more information swiftly and straightforwardly about the topic, while also preventing plagiarism. Various forms of in-text citations may be used, including parenthetical and narrative. These allow readers to easily identify sources that have formed the basis of the author’s argument or provided useful data. Additionally, in-text citations provide evidence to support the author’s claims and demonstrate the breadth of research undertaken. In-text citations normally encompass the creator’s name and year of publication and can as well stage the page range (when relevant). It is important that in-text citations accurately reflect the sources used in an essay or research paper. In-text citations should correspond to the full references provided in the reference list at the end of the document. This ensures that readers can find the corresponding source in the reference list, allowing them to verify the information provided or learn more. Consequently, proper in-text citations should be included for all borrowed facts, ideas, and visuals such as visuals, charts and graphs, etc. It is essential to ensure that in-text citations accurately reflect the source materials used in an academic paper or essay. All citations must correspond to the full citations listed in the reference list at the conclusion of the written piece. Doing so makes it possible for readers to confirm the veracity of the cited facts, ideas, and visuals (e.g. charts, graphs, pictures etc.) by referencing the source in the list.

How Multilings citation tool can help you?

Multilings has a citation tool which helps you create different types of citation formation. It scans the sources of the content (whether a book, online article, research paper, etc) and collects the citation detail which includes author’s name, date of the publication, url etc and then shows you the information in the citation format you want. You can save all these information in your Multilings account can reuse whenever required.