What is a Citation?

Citations are one of the most important elements of any academic paper. They help to provide evidence and ensure the validity of your work by providing a link between different sources of information. Put simply, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source that you used in your research. It can be an entire book, an article, a report, an image, or something else entirely.

Citations are used to give credit to authors whose work you have used and to allow readers to easily locate the sources you used. Without citations, your paper would not be accepted by your teacher, professor, or publisher. In addition, citations show that you have conducted the necessary research to produce a successful paper.

Types of Citations

There are several types of citations that can be used. The type of citation you use depends on the type of document you are citing and the style guide you are using. Here are some of the most common types of citations you may use when writing a paper:

In-Text Citation – this is a brief and direct reference within the text of your paper, usually written in parentheses and including the author’s name, the title of the source, and the page number.

MLA Citations – This type of citation is used when citing a source using the Modern Language Association (MLA) style guide. The parenthetical citation includes the author’s name and the page number, if applicable.

APA Citations – This type of citation is used when citing a source using the American Psychological Association (APA) style guide. This type of citation includes the author’s name, the year of publication, and the page number, if applicable.

Chicago Style Citations – This type of citation is used when citing a source using the Chicago Manual of Style. The parenthetical citation includes the page number, and other information such as volume numbers and publication dates, as well as the author’s name.

Importance of Citations

Citations are an integral part of all academic papers. They serve to help you show your readers that the research and information you present is based on previous work and provides evidence to support your arguments. Additionally, they help readers to locate and access the sources you have used and verify the validity of the information you have used. Without citations, your sources may not be authenticated and readers may think that you are making claims without evidence.

Finally, citations are important because they allow you to show that you are engaged in an ongoing and ever-evolving conversation with other researchers in the field. The idea is that you are engaging in the conversation, opinion-shaping and forming, rather than merely regurgitating what has already been said. By referencing the ideas of others in this way, you are not only enriching and expanding your own paper, but acknowledging the authors of the original work.