How to Cite References Properly

Learning how to cite sources properly is one of the most important and fundamental aspects of scholarly writing. Students need to learn how to properly cite sources as early as possible, so that the process becomes second nature. Moreover, students need to know what to cite and why in order to prevent plagiarism. The line between general knowledge and proprietary information can be blurry at times, and only extensive practice can perfect student research habits. Similarly, professors often give conflicting instructions, and different classes require different citation style formats.

The multitude of citation styles can easily confuse students. Multiple websites offer resources to help students improve their citation and referencing habits. The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) is one of the most respected sites because it offers students the opportunity to learn different citation formats like MLA and APA. These websites can, however, be daunting. The rules of citation vary depending on the citation style and the type of source, and learning all the main styles can be unnecessarily cumbersome.

It can take a long time to figure out exactly how to format a specific reference. While most classes in the United States will ask students to cite their references in APA and MLA format, there are also other styles that are fairly common like Chicago and Harvard. Knowing how and why to cite source material is a totally different issue from perfecting citation style formatting. When professors are overly strict about citation styles, they prevent their students from mastering course material.

Small mistakes in citation styles are inevitable; even experienced researchers and professors make errors. For this reason, students should have access to digital tools that can help them. Just as math classes eventually call upon students to use calculators to facilitate their work, classes should encourage students to use citation generators to free up their time for the more important aspects of their learning. As long as students understand how to cite properly and avoid plagiarism, using citation generators is not a problem.

In fact, citation generators could potentially improve student writing and academic honesty by taking some of the pain out of citations. The main problem with citation generators is that they are also imperfect. Citation generators require that the students input all the information about the source they are citing, which means they are not taking any shortcuts. In fact, sometimes using the citation generators takes more time than formatting the citation oneself.

The citation generators need to be developed more robustly to allow students to input a citation more easily than is currently possible. There is also nothing unethical about citation generators. The only ethical issues are with not citing sources properly in the first place. Students ultimately do need to master citations, but if the software makes this job easier, there is no inherent value in learning where to place a comma or when to italicize something. Citation formats are technical issues that have nothing to do with student learning.

These are issues that unnecessarily detail-oriented, best kept within the province of the editorial board of academic journals. As long as students give credit where credit is due, they should not receive any points off for making.