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Academic Paper: Bibliography and Citation Styles

5 min readmarch 13, 2023

Dylan Black

Dylan Black

Dylan Black

Dylan Black

Introduction

As you write your Research paper, you'll be reading a lot of outside research. By a lot, I mean a lot. Whether you're reading academic papers, lectures, media works, books, magazines, journal articles, or anything else, you will need to accurately attribute the authors of these works. You've most likely worked with citations and Works Cited pages in the past, specifically in AP Seminar where citations were required, but in AP Research it becomes a whole other ball game.

Including correct citations is an easy way to avoid losing what should be an easy 5 on the rubric, and it's also important to make sure that you don't . If you use data or results from someone else's paper and, even mistakenly, forget to attribute them at all, you could risk getting a 0 on your academic paper.

Furthermore, which you choose is no longer a matter of what you feel most comfortable with but is rather what is considered . For example, if every paper in your discipline uses as their , you are essentially forced to use , regardless of whether or not you've used it before. While most citation styles are relatively similar, you may need to learn a new one for AP Research.

Choosing a Citation Style

As I just mentioned, in AP Research, your must be appropriate for your discipline. This is because different disciplines and different focuses require different information when attributing authors. The easiest way to figure out what your discipline uses is to look at papers written in your discipline! However, if you're not sure, here are a few rules of thumb:

MLA

Odds are, despite being the most popular for AP Seminar and for high school papers in general, you will not end up using in your research paper. is typically used for educational purposes to teach citations and is used in very specific disciplines. stands for "Modern Language Association" and is typically only used in papers about literature, film, and other artistic and literary works. Because the majority of students will be doing work outside of these fields, you probably won't use .

APA

For most of you, will be the of choice. Despite standing for "American Psychological Association", is the most popular for the social sciences, nursing, and business. Disciplines like economics, psychology, sociology, linguistics, etc. fall under social sciences, as do many others. is also a good default since, unless your discipline has an extremely clear , is professional and contains most of the information other disciplines require. However, if you know that your discipline uses another , use that one, instead.

Chicago

The third major is the Chicago Manual of Style, typically used in business, history, and the fine arts. Chicago is best known for the fact that it does not use parenthetical citations and, rather, uses footnotes. This is an easy way to recognize if your paper should be using Chicago. Chicago is typically the least used by high school students compared to and , but it is a useful one to know, especially if you plan on doing research in the fields of business, history, or fine arts.

Other Citation Styles

While we've named the three most popular citation styles, there's a whole world of citation styles! Other notable styles are: AMA (American Medical Association), ACS (American Chemical Society), AMS (American Mathematical Society), and . These are all popular choices for students who are writing for very specific disciplines.

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-ziZEwBBHZdqS.gif?alt=media&token=d8d948e7-4d85-41ac-9f7e-bb958106ed7e

Image from GIPHY

Consistency Over Choice

While there typically is one choice that is easy to make for your , it's more important to stay consistent with the that you use. Even if the style isn't perfect for your discipline, you want to make sure that all citations use the same style. Make sure your works cited page is the same style as your parenthetical citations and that the style of your paper as a whole matches the style. With many citation styles, not only do you have to pay attention to how you cite sources and how you attribute quotes with parenthetical citation, you also have to compare it with the entire design of your paper!

For example, a typical paper has a header at the top of the first page with your name, teacher, date (in a particular format), and class along with the title centered on the page. By contrast, an paper will have a dedicated title page and a running title along the top of every page.

Making sure that these little things are not overlooked can help you earn more points and make sure you're not losing points on little mistakes.

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-1J5vNl5Msrhr.gif?alt=media&token=fc326ef0-f741-437b-bfc0-6503cef570ff

Image from GIPHY

Resources for Citations

For learning how to write certain citation styles, online resources are an absolute godsend. The best resource, in our opinion, is Purdue OWL, which has resources for , , and Chicago, along with general writing tips. Other great resources include any university library, which typically has research tips along with citation tips.

Many people also like using citation generators, like EasyBib, which, while helpful, should be checked for accuracy since they can definitely screw up. Using them can speed up your process, but it's always important to double-check.

Conclusion

At this point, you are well on your way to writing a 🔥 paper with perfect citations and style. This "section" of your paper is essentially the only one that follows you throughout your entire Research journey. It is an incredibly easy section to both do really well on, but it is also easy to make dumb mistakes with. However, with these tips, you are off to a great start. Good luck!

Key Terms to Review (11)

ACS (American Chemical Society)

: The ACS is a scientific society that promotes chemistry research, education, and collaboration among chemists worldwide. It publishes scientific journals, organizes conferences, and provides resources for chemical professionals.

AMA (American Medical Association)

: The AMA is a professional organization that represents physicians and medical students in the United States. It sets standards for medical education, ethics, and practice.

AMS (American Mathematical Society)

: The AMS is an association dedicated to advancing research in mathematics. It supports mathematicians through publications, conferences, grants, advocacy efforts, and fostering collaborations within the mathematical community.

APA

: APA (American Psychological Association) is a citation style commonly used in the social sciences. It provides guidelines for formatting academic papers, citing sources, and creating reference lists.

Chicago Style

: Chicago Style is a citation style widely used in history, literature, and some social sciences. It offers two different documentation systems - notes-bibliography system (footnotes or endnotes) and author-date system (in-text citations).

Citation Style

: Citation style refers to a specific format for documenting sources used in academic writing. It includes guidelines for citing books, articles, websites, and other resources within the text and creating a bibliography or reference list at the end of the document.

Discipline Appropriate

: Discipline appropriate refers to conducting research within the boundaries and guidelines of a specific field or subject area. It means following the accepted practices, methodologies, and standards set by experts in that discipline.

MLA

: MLA (Modern Language Association) is a set of guidelines for formatting academic papers, including citations and works cited pages. It provides a standardized way to document sources and ensure proper credit is given to the original authors.

Plagiarize

: Plagiarize means to use someone else's work or ideas without giving them proper credit. It is like copying your friend's homework and submitting it as your own.

Purdue OWL

: Purdue OWL stands for Purdue Online Writing Lab, which is a website created by Purdue University that provides resources and guidance for writing and research. It offers helpful tips on grammar, citation styles, and academic writing.

Turabian

: Turabian is a style guide used for writing and formatting academic papers, particularly in the fields of humanities and social sciences. It provides guidelines for citation styles, paper structure, and other important aspects of scholarly writing.

Academic Paper: Bibliography and Citation Styles

5 min readmarch 13, 2023

Dylan Black

Dylan Black

Dylan Black

Dylan Black

Introduction

As you write your Research paper, you'll be reading a lot of outside research. By a lot, I mean a lot. Whether you're reading academic papers, lectures, media works, books, magazines, journal articles, or anything else, you will need to accurately attribute the authors of these works. You've most likely worked with citations and Works Cited pages in the past, specifically in AP Seminar where citations were required, but in AP Research it becomes a whole other ball game.

Including correct citations is an easy way to avoid losing what should be an easy 5 on the rubric, and it's also important to make sure that you don't . If you use data or results from someone else's paper and, even mistakenly, forget to attribute them at all, you could risk getting a 0 on your academic paper.

Furthermore, which you choose is no longer a matter of what you feel most comfortable with but is rather what is considered . For example, if every paper in your discipline uses as their , you are essentially forced to use , regardless of whether or not you've used it before. While most citation styles are relatively similar, you may need to learn a new one for AP Research.

Choosing a Citation Style

As I just mentioned, in AP Research, your must be appropriate for your discipline. This is because different disciplines and different focuses require different information when attributing authors. The easiest way to figure out what your discipline uses is to look at papers written in your discipline! However, if you're not sure, here are a few rules of thumb:

MLA

Odds are, despite being the most popular for AP Seminar and for high school papers in general, you will not end up using in your research paper. is typically used for educational purposes to teach citations and is used in very specific disciplines. stands for "Modern Language Association" and is typically only used in papers about literature, film, and other artistic and literary works. Because the majority of students will be doing work outside of these fields, you probably won't use .

APA

For most of you, will be the of choice. Despite standing for "American Psychological Association", is the most popular for the social sciences, nursing, and business. Disciplines like economics, psychology, sociology, linguistics, etc. fall under social sciences, as do many others. is also a good default since, unless your discipline has an extremely clear , is professional and contains most of the information other disciplines require. However, if you know that your discipline uses another , use that one, instead.

Chicago

The third major is the Chicago Manual of Style, typically used in business, history, and the fine arts. Chicago is best known for the fact that it does not use parenthetical citations and, rather, uses footnotes. This is an easy way to recognize if your paper should be using Chicago. Chicago is typically the least used by high school students compared to and , but it is a useful one to know, especially if you plan on doing research in the fields of business, history, or fine arts.

Other Citation Styles

While we've named the three most popular citation styles, there's a whole world of citation styles! Other notable styles are: AMA (American Medical Association), ACS (American Chemical Society), AMS (American Mathematical Society), and . These are all popular choices for students who are writing for very specific disciplines.

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-ziZEwBBHZdqS.gif?alt=media&token=d8d948e7-4d85-41ac-9f7e-bb958106ed7e

Image from GIPHY

Consistency Over Choice

While there typically is one choice that is easy to make for your , it's more important to stay consistent with the that you use. Even if the style isn't perfect for your discipline, you want to make sure that all citations use the same style. Make sure your works cited page is the same style as your parenthetical citations and that the style of your paper as a whole matches the style. With many citation styles, not only do you have to pay attention to how you cite sources and how you attribute quotes with parenthetical citation, you also have to compare it with the entire design of your paper!

For example, a typical paper has a header at the top of the first page with your name, teacher, date (in a particular format), and class along with the title centered on the page. By contrast, an paper will have a dedicated title page and a running title along the top of every page.

Making sure that these little things are not overlooked can help you earn more points and make sure you're not losing points on little mistakes.

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-1J5vNl5Msrhr.gif?alt=media&token=fc326ef0-f741-437b-bfc0-6503cef570ff

Image from GIPHY

Resources for Citations

For learning how to write certain citation styles, online resources are an absolute godsend. The best resource, in our opinion, is Purdue OWL, which has resources for , , and Chicago, along with general writing tips. Other great resources include any university library, which typically has research tips along with citation tips.

Many people also like using citation generators, like EasyBib, which, while helpful, should be checked for accuracy since they can definitely screw up. Using them can speed up your process, but it's always important to double-check.

Conclusion

At this point, you are well on your way to writing a 🔥 paper with perfect citations and style. This "section" of your paper is essentially the only one that follows you throughout your entire Research journey. It is an incredibly easy section to both do really well on, but it is also easy to make dumb mistakes with. However, with these tips, you are off to a great start. Good luck!

Key Terms to Review (11)

ACS (American Chemical Society)

: The ACS is a scientific society that promotes chemistry research, education, and collaboration among chemists worldwide. It publishes scientific journals, organizes conferences, and provides resources for chemical professionals.

AMA (American Medical Association)

: The AMA is a professional organization that represents physicians and medical students in the United States. It sets standards for medical education, ethics, and practice.

AMS (American Mathematical Society)

: The AMS is an association dedicated to advancing research in mathematics. It supports mathematicians through publications, conferences, grants, advocacy efforts, and fostering collaborations within the mathematical community.

APA

: APA (American Psychological Association) is a citation style commonly used in the social sciences. It provides guidelines for formatting academic papers, citing sources, and creating reference lists.

Chicago Style

: Chicago Style is a citation style widely used in history, literature, and some social sciences. It offers two different documentation systems - notes-bibliography system (footnotes or endnotes) and author-date system (in-text citations).

Citation Style

: Citation style refers to a specific format for documenting sources used in academic writing. It includes guidelines for citing books, articles, websites, and other resources within the text and creating a bibliography or reference list at the end of the document.

Discipline Appropriate

: Discipline appropriate refers to conducting research within the boundaries and guidelines of a specific field or subject area. It means following the accepted practices, methodologies, and standards set by experts in that discipline.

MLA

: MLA (Modern Language Association) is a set of guidelines for formatting academic papers, including citations and works cited pages. It provides a standardized way to document sources and ensure proper credit is given to the original authors.

Plagiarize

: Plagiarize means to use someone else's work or ideas without giving them proper credit. It is like copying your friend's homework and submitting it as your own.

Purdue OWL

: Purdue OWL stands for Purdue Online Writing Lab, which is a website created by Purdue University that provides resources and guidance for writing and research. It offers helpful tips on grammar, citation styles, and academic writing.

Turabian

: Turabian is a style guide used for writing and formatting academic papers, particularly in the fields of humanities and social sciences. It provides guidelines for citation styles, paper structure, and other important aspects of scholarly writing.


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© 2024 Fiveable Inc. All rights reserved.

AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.