Cite your paper and earn more toffee points from your readers

Citing in a paper means quoting information in it that can be useful for the reader to understand your paper better. This can be done easily by following a few rules that will help you to learn how to cite a paper. This enhances the attractiveness of your paper. If the citations are made in main script of your paper itself then it is called text citations, the citations can be made in the end or even in the backside your paper.     

It is important to use citations in your paper so that the reader finds it informative and does not have to look anywhere else for their reference. Even if they need any more information they can always look up the references you have cited. As mentioned earlier there are a few rules to be understood to learn how to cite a paper, they are:

Paraphrase another person’s works or ideas:

Paraphrasing means expressing the content or the basic idea of a piece of work in your own words. This will enable your reader to understand your concept better. But while paraphrasing you have to keep it in your mind that it must be in a simple understandable format.

Use a direct quotation (cite the original source):

If you are directly quoting someone’s work then you must mention the authors name and also the source, For example: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by,” (Frost R. The Road Not Taken)

Collect and use the correct information:

If the quote or reference which you have given is irrelevant to the topic then it creates an impression on the reader that you are not aware of the correct topic or don’t have sufficient knowledge.

Give a list of listed references:

If you are making the references at the end or back of the paper then make it look like a list and not like another paragraph.

The citations must not waver from the topic:

The citations you make must be relevant to the topic. You must not do it in such a way that initially you are speaking about science and suddenly jump into geography. This will show the reader that you know your job.

The above mentioned rules will enable you to understand how to cite a paper. The use of the name of the author whose quote you are using is also very important. If the author’s name is known then make a mention of his last name alone with his initial and if you don’t know the author’s name but the topic of the source is known then mention it inside quotations (” “), if the quote has multiple authors or citations, separate each of it with a semicolon (;), and if you are using any page number or line number from an author’s book then it must appear only inside parentheses.

Now that you have learnt how to cite a paper, I hope they will improve your paper’s quality and also gain you the appreciation you deserve from your peers as well as your superiors including your instructors.

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