When writing lab reports, papers, and presentations, citations (or references) should be included to provide authority to the ideas and information you are including. It is important to give credit where it is due and also allow your reader or audience to verify the information you are providing.
Citations should be put in:
The format for including these citations will vary depending on your chosen style. Styles used in the sciences often include APA, CSE's Scientific Style and Format, Vancouver, and journal-specific styles.
Citations can be generated for a given article or book by the library catalogue, as well as in ScienceDirect and other databases.
In-text citations in APA (American Psychological Association) style use the author last name and year to identify the source of the information. The in-text citation is put in parentheses as part of a sentence in your work.
If there are 2 authors use "and" between their last names in your in-text citation. If there are more than 2 authors, use the first author's last name, then "et al." before adding the date.
Example:
Monte-Carlo simulations can be used to analyze genotypic data for parentage (Huang et al., 2018).
CSE stands for the Council of Science Editors. They create Scientific Style and Format, which is used by various scientific journals, including Genetics.
In-text citations for CSE use the author last name and year to identify the source of the information, but is slightly different from APA. The in-text citation is put in parentheses as part of a sentence in your work.
If there are 2 authors use "and" between their last names in your citation. If there are more than 2 authors, use the first author's last name, then "et al." before adding the date.
Example:
Monte-Carlo simulations can be used to analyze genotypic data for parentage (Huang et al. 2018).
The Vancouver style is an example of a numbered referencing style that is often used in the Health Sciences. In this style the reference list is put in the order references are mentioned instead of alphabetically.
While other numbered styles specified by journals may use a superscript number, italics or parentheses, the Vancouver style generally uses square brackets for in-text referencing.
Example:
Monte-Carlo simulations can be used to analyze genotypic data for parentage [1].
If you are using APA for your references your reference list should be arranged alphabetically by the last name of the first author for each article or other resource you have referenced in-text in your work.
The library catalogue and many databases are able to create APA references for you, but make sure you check the result, especially after copying and pasting it into your reference section!
The format for referencing an article in APA style is:
Author, Initials., & Author, Initials. (Year). Title. Journal Name, Volume(issue), page range. DOI if available
Example:
Blouin, M. S. (2003). DNA-based methods for pedigree reconstruction and kinship analysis in natural populations. Trends in Ecology & Evolution (Amsterdam), 18(10), 503–511. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(03)00225-8
CSE stands for the Council of Science Editors. They create Scientific Style and Format, which is used by various scientific journals, including Genetics.
The format for a CSE-style reference is:
Author, Initial, Author, Initial. Year Title. Journal (may be abbreviated). Volume(issue):pages. DOI if available
Example:
Blouin, M. S., 2003 DNA-based methods for pedigree reconstruction and kinship analysis in natural populations. Trends Ecol. Evol. 18: 503–511. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(03)00225-8
The Vancouver style is an example of a numbered referencing style that is often used in the Health Sciences. In this style the reference list is put in the order references are mentioned instead of alphabetically.
The format of a reference in Vancouver style is:
Number. Author, Initials; Author, Initials. Article Title. Abbreviated title of Journal. Date of publication, Volume, pages.
Example:
1. Blouin, M. S. DNA-based methods for pedigree reconstruction and kinship analysis in natural populations. Trends Ecol. Evol. 2003 18: 503–511.
If you're referencing an item in a research paper or assignment, you'll need to include a citation to it in your Bibliography, Works Cited, or Reference List. Your instructor may require these citations be formatted in a particular style. The citation tool is useful for generating a citation in a variety of citation styles:
Click the citation button, choose your preferred citation style from the list, and then click the copy the citation to clipboard button:
