In academic writing, it is a must to recognize literary pieces in which you derive information from. Citation is done to give authenticity to work done by a researcher. Research papers are one of the most common forms of writing in the academic setting. Citing a research paper shows the reader that you have actually done proper research for your work. Cited pieces also form a basis of more research by readers in search engines.

There are many styles used to cite research papers. The contents of all these styles are almost similar; only the format changes. The choice of a citing style depends on the directions of your supervisors or readers. A compilation of the cited sources in the body of your research paper is added at the end of the document. 

When should you cite a source?

  • When you use images and statistic tools such as graphs and charts.

  • When you use facts and data in your work.

  • When you use words directly as they appear in other sources, for your work.

  • When you use the concepts or opinions of the source paper's authors.

  • How different styles are used to site research papers. 

APA (American Psychological Association)

This is the most common style used to cite research papers in the field of education, health sciences, social sciences, business, and linguistic studies. Some research paper help services assist students with that.

In-text citation

In APA style, Parenthesis is used to enclose the citations in the text. The information in the Parenthesis only includes the last name of the authors and the year of publication, separated with a comma.

Example: (Kremers, D (1971)

Biography

The names of the authors appear first in a full citation. The last name precedes the first name initial separated by a comma. A comma also separates different author names. The date of publication follows in Parenthesis. The title of the research paper is added next with the first letter and the proper names capitalized. Lastly, the location of a published paper (journal or magazine) is added or a link of the paper if unpublished. The issue number and the pages where you sourced the information followed by issue number and page numbers are added at the end.

Chicago

This style is used for research papers in the field of arts, philosophy, history, and anthropology. 

In-text citation

Here you may use either Parenthesis or a footnote to cite the sources in the body of your text. The parenthesis method is similar to APA, while the footnote method includes the full citation with the author's names inverted.

Example: (Kremers, D 1971)

Biography

The last names of the authors are written first separated with commas followed by the year of publication. The title of the source paper is written in title case and enclosed in quotation marks. The type of the source paper follows. The place where the paper was accessed from is added, followed by the issue number and lastly the pages.

MLA (Modern Language Association)

Use this style for research papers in Literature, English, communication, and religious studies fields.

In-text citation

The names of the authors and the page number, enclosed in Parenthesis, are used. 

Example : (Kremers, D, p. 314-317)

Biography 

The last names are written first, followed by first names. Different author names are separated with commas. Similarly, write the title of the source papers in the title case and enclosed in Parenthesis. Lastly, list the location of the source paper followed by the issue number, year of publication, and the page number.

AMA (American Medical Association)

AMA is mainly used for medical research papers. 

In-text citations

In this style, the in-text citations are added in the form of superscript numbers. The numbers must correspond to the source's listing numbers in the biography.

Example: 4"

Biography

Write the names of the authors and separate different author names with a comma. Use the abbreviation et al. after three authors if the total number of authors is above six. Add the title of the paper in sentence case followed by the title of location in italics, year of publication, issue number, and lastly, the pages where you got your source. Use links for unpublished papers.

These are the four most common styles that you will use for your research papers. The good thing with citation work is that it can be done automatically. Tools to help you with this include MS word and Mendeley. Always ensure that the body of your research paper is sufficiently cited and the biography added at the end of the research paper before you submit your paper.