Research Paper Writing: 9. Reference

References, also referred to a Work Cited or a Bibliography is an alphabetical list of sources the writer uses in the research paper by last names of authors, editors, translators, or by first words of titles. However, they are not all sited the same. The references section is a term used for the APA (American Psychological Association) style. The work cited section is a term used for the MLA (Modern Language Association) style. The two styles are different from an actual bibliography. A bibliography is a style that includes all of the sources you have consulted during the preparation of the research paper even if it was not included in the paper. These three items are the most popular styles, even though there are many other styles for different fields. It is important to ask what style of writing will be used before beginning the writing process.

Here a list of writing styles:

• MLA (Modern Language Association)
• APA (American Psychological Association)
• CMS (Chicago Manual of Style) 
• Turabian
• Harvard
• CGOS (Columbia Guide to Online Style)
• CBE (Council of Biology Editors)
• AAA (American Anthropological Association) 
• ASA (American Sociological Association)
• CSE (Council of Science Editors)

This section was adapted from the following source:

Research guide for Students - http://www.aresearchguide.com/10works.html

• Stay away from plagiarism
• Stay away from downloadable information from CD-ROMs or use of other's work, whether it is from the Internet or a personal contact for the purpose of plagiarism
  
• Use information from sources, paraphrase and acknowledge their work
• Use of quotation needs to be properly cited inside the paper as well as in the Reference section
  
• Do not number the source entries
• Should not cite by categories
• The references should be listed on a separate page
• The margins will depend on the style that is being used

This section was adapted from the following source:

Research guide for Students - http://www.aresearchguide.com/10works.html

• There are many types of citation styles; check to see which type of documentation is favored by your instructor
• Should never search for an essay or research paper and pay for it to receive a downloadable paper
• Requirements may include Footnotes or Endnotes; it is will worth your time knowing how to use these features in Microsoft Word a few days before the paper is due
• Be cautious when referencing the material in the research paper
• It is useful to have general knowledge of what is not needed for referencing
• Over-citing is always a way of avoiding accusations of plagiarism, but sometimes citation is not always necessary