Referencing: Why cite correctly?

WHY SHOULD I CITE CORRECTLY?

When writing academically, it is important to reference the sources and literature you use. By referencing sources correctly, you credit other authors' and researchers' work, give your reader the opportunity to find and use your sources, and at the same time, you avoid plagiarism.

In this guide, we describe how, why and when you should make citations. 

HOW DO I CITE MY SOURCES?

Citations can look different depending on which citation format you use and the type of source you are referencing. You can read more about the different citation formats using this link: Citation formats 

Generally, citations consist of two parts:

1. In-text citations are written in the text it self, for the purpose of making it clear to the reader which exact part of the text is referencing previous works or a source. In some citation formats, this is shown by writing the author and sometimes a year of publication, while other citation formats show this with a number. In both cases, the in-text citation contains a few details that point the reader to a more detailed description of the works cited, in the reference list.
2. A reference list is a detailed list of the works and sources used that appears at the end of the paper. Depending on the citation format and type of source, the information listed varies. The purpose of the list is to enable your reader to find the sources and works you have cited. Most of the time, it will only contain the sources that you cite in text, and in these cases it will be titled as "references" or "works cited". Some citation formats allow you to include sources that were consulted as background, but not directly cited in the text. In this case it will be called a bibliography.

During your writing process it is thus important to note information about the sources you intend to reference. The information you need for a citation will usually be information like:

• Author
• Title
• Year/date of publication
• Page number
• Volume and issue (for journal articles)
• DOI (Digital Object Identifier). 
• URL (for online ressources)
• Date the source was downloadet/visited

It is worth considering whether using a reference management software would be useful for your project. Read our guide to using the reference management software Zotero here.

CITATION OF GENERATIVE AI

Regardless of the ongoing debates about the use of ChatGPT or generative AI in general, maintaining academic integrity is crucial. If you use tools like ChatGPT, it's important to provide proper source citations. Any content generated with assistance from tools like ChatGPT should be explicitly marked as such – either through direct quotes with citations or simply citing the source if there's a rephrasing of the generated material. But how do you reference material from ChatGPT?

Since generative AI is not a person and, therefore, isn't accountable for its statements, it should never be credited as a co-author of a text. However, it should be treated as a source that needs to be referenced. It's also advisable to keep a record of conversations.

Different citation formats have different guidelines, for how to cite AI. Read our libguide on AI, for more information.

WHEN SHOULD I CITE?

You should always provide citations to the sources you rely on when doing research or writing papers. In general you should cite everything you use that is not "common knowledge".

Your use of books, book chapters, articles, websites, film clips, reports, etc. should all be cited.

It is important to reflect on the fact that what is considered common knowledge can vary depending on the field you are working ind.

When in doubt, it is better to include one citation too many than too few!

DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)

A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a permanent identifier assigned to a digital document. A DOI is formatted as a link that will always lead to the document. DOIs are mainly associated with research articles, and including it in the reference list will make it easier for your reader to find the article now and in the future. A DOI is similar to a ISBN-number which is an identifier for books.

Example of a DOI: 
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-019-03142-8