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Properly citing references is very important for academic research. References not only show one's own academic level, but also position the research, highlighting the contribution of the research on the basis of previous research.
However, the format and norms of reference citations are often a headache, and improper citations may be one of the reasons for rejection of manuscripts. This article will share some frequently asked questions about reference citations and provide corresponding suggestions.
01
Frequently Asked Questions about Reference Citations
Too few or too many citations
If there are too few references cited, readers will not be able to understand how your paper fits with previous literature and the research basis. Also, if all references are drawn from a single source, the paper will appear shallow.
On the other hand, if there are too many references, my point of view will be covered by others' points of view, making the paper appear weaker, and readers will think that the author dare not advocate his point of view. It is recommended to adopt the golden mean, cite a moderate number of documents, and express personal views.
Citations are irrelevant or insignificant to the paper
One special consideration when screening authors for citations: readers evaluate author citations—which authors do you think are worth mentioning, and whose papers are credible and of high quality. If readers find that the literature you cite is irrelevant or insignificant to the content of the paper, or worse, that the literature cited is controversial, they will question your authority in the field of the paper's research. Therefore, rigorous screening of references is required.
High-impact literature not cited
It is necessary to understand the sources of important ideas in the field of study, that is, the literature that has had a significant impact on the field, and some seminal literature may have a long history. Therefore, the author needs to keep pace with the times, and at the same time cite recently published literature to let readers know that you have also read the latest literature.
Too many citations
Quoting the original text intact can serve as a good illustration and enhance the authority of the argument. However, too many citations can make the paper pale and lack the author's own point of view. For most papers, a summary or paraphrase will work better, but interview-based papers will make heavy use of citations.
Failure to organize literature properly
Sometimes, a literature review may be nothing more than a checklist listing the names of the authors of the literature in a dry, chronological order. While this is one way to organize your review, it is not the only way. Being able to extract relevant authors' arguments from the literature and grouping them shows that you have a sense of organizing the literature, which is far superior to organizing the literature by description alone. In addition, by illustrating the links between different topic groups, you can compare and evaluate the results of related groups on your thesis topic, and then develop your own views.
Too much descriptive content
Some early career researchers generally do not directly criticize the literature of others. They tend to just report what others have achieved without commenting, making the Review section too descriptive.
On the other hand, critical opinions are attached great importance to in English academic paper writing, and the choice of verbs often reflects the author's position.
"Show" or "demonstrate" are used to indicate consent.
"Fail" or "neglect to consider" is used to indicate a problem.
"Try" or "attempt" are used to indicate failure.
02
Several Suggestions on Citing Documents Correctly
Take a journal article as an example, this article shows how to properly cite literature.
Paper link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01461672211070923
In the first part, authors explicitly group authors of related literature and cite no less than one literature as an example, sometimes as many as eight in a group.
The distribution of literature years is reasonable, including recently published papers.
There was only one direct citation, pointing out how previous research illuminated the relevant hypothesis.
03
summary
Gain insight into how authors of published papers cite literature and make adjustments based on the realities of their discipline. In time, I believe you will be able to cite literature with ease!
That's all for today's sharing, see you next time!
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