Documenting References or Citations
Writing references or citations in an article is arguably the least amusing aspect of research, but is absolutely necessary.
Why bother?
The whole point of publishing research is so fellow researchers can look at your article and if they choose, follow up by reading exactly what you have read to arrive at certain conclusions. To be courteous to your fellow scholars, be sure to get the page numbers and other such details correct when you write a reference.
Properly organizing references in anything you publish can also help to show why you should be taken seriously as a thinker in your field. After all, why should any reader believe what you say just because you say it? If you demonstrate that your argument is based on solidly documented facts from reputable sources, you look serious as a writer. Showing that you are aware of other published work in your field of interest proves that you belong to the international intellectual community. Sometimes, Thai ajarns work within the Kingdom without any concern for communicating with the outside world. By writing in English, and showing that you know about international publications, you will expand your horizons and impress the rest of the world about the potential for intellectual achievement in the Kingdom.
There may be bad results if references are missing or incomplete. In this case, you may be accused of plagiarism, and even if you did not intentionally omit citations, the result is the same. Because of this, if there is any question in your mind about whether to add a reference, by all means do so. Adding an extra reference that is not strictly needed will never hurt, even if wastes a tiny bit of your time.
As mentioned in the previous blog entry PLAGIARISM AND HOW TO AVOID IT:
http://main.library.tu.ac.th/km/wp-admin/post.php?post=996&action=edit
you must add a reference for any direct quotation or paraphrase of someone else’s statement. If you summarize what someone else wrote, you also must cite the original source. In general, data of all kinds, if provided in a publication, should be cited as well. When you are mentioning what is called common knowledge, such as the fact that King Rama III lived from 1787 to 1851, there is no need to add a reference for this commonly accepted fact. If, however, you are discussing a scholarly article or book which tries to prove that King Rama III was really born in 1786 or 1788, then you will have to add a citation, especially if you plan to disagree with that article or book.
References may also be appropriate if you want to add extra background and insights which do not fit in your article or thesis, but which you think the reader might find interesting. In that case, you would put the citation in a footnote, as well as a description of what the supplementary material adds to your argument and your understanding of the subject.
How to format references.
The problem of how to format references is shared even by native speakers of English, who often get it wrong. Different journals require different formats for citations. For example, in the humanities, the Modern Language Association (MLA) style is often used. In the social sciences, the American Psychological Association (APA) style is preferred, whereas in history, The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) is the usual guideline. Science has many different reference styles, depending on the journal. If you are writing a thesis, your ajarn will tell you in what format your references should be.
Formerly, it was amazingly boring having to get each detail of references correct, and there were always many mistakes. Now, with programs such as Zotero and Endnote.com, you need only indicate which format is required – you can easily learn this from the websites of any journal you plan to submit an article to – and your references immediately leap into the correct format.
http://main.library.tu.ac.th/tulib/index.php/endnote
Even more gratifyingly, if you must change the format of references because you decide to submit the article to a different journal that needs a different format, then Zotero or Endnote.com can instantly alter your references accordingly. This saves a tremendous amount of time, although of course you will need to spend some time learning how to use Zotero or Endnote.com. Still, especially for a thesis, where lots of references are inevitable, the amount of time saved is so considerable, and the flexibility of the program so helpful, that most likely you will choose to use it.
As with any automated system, you must keep an eye on Zotero and Endnote.com just to make sure that your references look the way you expect them to.
Citing different materials.
If your article or thesis refers to electronic sources such as websites, online periodicals, CD-ROMs, podcasts, YouTube, extra bits of information are needed to add to help readesr locate online the new media information you are mentioning. The URL and date you consulted the website or other online source are needed. Artworks, photographs, musical recordings, letters, emails, interviews, and even lecture notes have their own established formats for being cited. There are even ways to cite a film, TV show, or radio broadcast in an academic article or thesis, and guidelines for these all exist. Most guides to styles of reference will give you the exact details of what is needed.
Annoying abbreviations.
References are challenging to get right even for native English speakers because they require a little knowledge not just of English but also of Latin (!) Terms which appear in footnotes such as “et al.”; “ibid.”; and “op. cit.” are often used wrongly, so it is worth Googling them to get an idea of what they mean, and then Google them again when you use them, just to refresh your memory. A frequent error, even by native English speakers, is to forget that these Latin terms are abbreviations and so require a full stop (.) after each one. Formatting guides will tell you about other tricks of punctuation, where commas are needed, and other tiny details that making writing citations a challenge and a chore. Getting all of this right does provide some degree of satisfaction, even if it is a nuisance and a headache to achieve the goal. Just keep in mind that there is a reason for the precise nature of citations. They are meant as roadmaps so that your readers can find their way back to the sources you used. If your footnotes are not clearly written in standard formats, then your readers may be lost, and they will not appreciate your research at its true value.
Making life easier for yourself.
Since you know that compiling references is painful and boring, although necessary, do everything you can to lighten the burden on yourself. When taking notes from a book, article, or other source, make sure that you note down all relevant information, including page number, for anything you may cite later on. That way you will not have to go back later to hunt down things. Similarly, if you are researching online sources, always note the URL, the date and time you accessed the material, and the name of the website.
Although writing references can never be described as sanook, the chore can seem less painful if you keep in mind the importance of citations as a key part of your research.
(all images are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).