Writing - Citations - TDNet Discover

Overview of Citations

Proper citation can be the most mundane of aspects of a paper, but that does not mean it does not rank high on the pyramid of importance.

In any STEM and/or Medical project the lit of references is just as telling as the thesis itself. The research thread of following the source of particular idea can lead to new prospects and new discoveries. Therefore, giving one's readers a detailed map of where you found your data is of incredible relevance.

APA Citation Style

APA is the acknowledged citation style for papers in STEM.

If you wish to own a copy of the latest edition of the APA manual, you can purchase it here:

APA Style

The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) offers a comprehensive guide to APA complete with sample papers, full lists of possible resources to cite, paper formatting, etc...

Purdue Owl APA Guide

APA References

The PDF linked below is an excerpt from the official, 7th ed. of the APA Style Guide. It contains complete examples of how to correctly format a reference a wide variety of sources. For papers in the medical field, journals and books will most likely be the most common genre on a References page, though it is always good to have a working understanding of other forms of published research.

APA Reference Guide

APA Journal example:

Journal Article (Section 10.1)

Lachner, A., Backfisch, I., Hoogerheide, V., van Gog, T., & Renkl, A. (2020). Timing matters! Explaining between s tudy phases enhances students’ learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 112(4), 841–853. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000396

APA Book example:

Authored Book (Section 10.2)

Kaufman, K. A., Glass, C. R., & Pineau, T. R. (2018). Mindful sport performance enhancement: Mentaltraining for athletes and coaches. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000048-000

Edited Book Chapter (Section 10.3)Zeleke,

W. A., Hughes, T. L., & Drozda, N. (2020). Home–school collaboratiooration to promote mind–body health. In C. Maykel & M. A. Bray (Eds.), Applying psychology in the schools. Promoting mind–bodyhealth in schools: Interventions for mental health professionals(pp. 11–26). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000157-002

Annotated Bibliographies

What is the difference between an annotated bibliography and a regular bibliography? Essentially, the annotated bib is the same formate as the regular one but with added information. Think of it as a summary of the article in question, with justification for why you are including it in your research. The article need not agree with your thesis, it might be a rebuttal of your perspective, but the point is to explain why the piece is present in your full list of references. Annotations can be a single paragraph or even a full page, it all depends on how much jusitifaction is required by a mentor or how much you believe needs to be included. An example of such an entry follows

Lachner, A., Backfisch, I., Hoogerheide, V., van Gog, T., & Renkl, A. (2020). Timing matters! Explaining between study phases enhances students’ learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 112(4), 841–853. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000396:

Summary of article.
Possible background of author(s).
What they seek to prove. What I am seeking to prove. (With evidence)
Relevance to my research.

Citations on PubMed

Pulling citations directly from PubMed is super quick and easy.

First, when browsing through your list of search results, a 'Cite' button will be listed under the article number.

Likewise, a 'Cite' button will also be present in the short summary version of the article.

When you click this button, options for Citation Style will appear. The 'Format' button will give you a pull-down menu of styles to choose from.

From there you can:

Copy and paste the citation.
Download the citation.

Citation & Content Managers

"Citation manager saves and organizes your references more efficiently, especially for longer projects. Use a citation manager to automatically create citations or lists of references (bibliographies), insert citations into your paper, share your research, and collaborate in groups." (From Ascension Libraries -TX)

Mendeley is an open-access, online library which also offers reference management

Mendeley Citation & Format Guide

Zotero is a free and open-source citation manager software to manage bibliographic data and related research materials. This main site can assist you with sharing your data with collaborators:

Zotero

This version will simply assist you with creating a bibliography:

https://zbib.org/