Citation
In relation to scientific writing, the term "citation"
means giving references that show the sources of the information you include in
your piece of writing.
Principles
- Scientific writing should synthesise information, not
just copy it.
- Use your own words; put any quotes in quotation
marks. Unacknowledged quotation is called plagiarism and is considered to be a
form of cheating. For detailed guidance on what plagiarism is and how to avoid
it, see Newcastle University's "Right-Cite"
web site, which has an excellent on-line
tutorial.
- You must show where your information came from.
- You should only give references to
literature that you have actually read.
Sources of information
There are two main kinds of source:
- Reports of original research ("papers")
- Usually peer reviewed.
- Typically have Introduction, Materials & Methods,
Results, Discussion.
- "Reviews" of research - vary widely in depth and
quality (especially when published on the World Wide Web). Usually peer
reviewed when published in scientific journals.
For a more detailed commentary, see the guidelines produced for AES356 (Wildlife Biology
Issues).
How to show where your information came from
There are two parts to showing your sources:
- In scientific writing, it is usual (and usually
required) to show sources of information within the text, as well as sources
of illustrations. When written out, the rules may seem more complicated than they
really are! More detailed examples may
be helpful.
- The list of references at the end of your report.
The specifications for a standard system that was originally produced for the
use of students in Applied Biology, Biology, and Food & Human Nutrition are here, together with other
guidelines on presentation of written work. Briefly, put your references in
alphabetical order of first author surnames. For each reference, give surnames
and initials of all authors, date, article title, full journal name, volume,
and page numbers. For more examples, see the end of the citation examples document.