research articles without citations

The science that’s never been cited

• Richard Van Noorden

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The geneticist and Nobel prizewinner Oliver Smithies, who died in January aged 91, was a modest, self-effacing inventor. It was typical of him to trot out the tale of one of his greatest flops: a paper 1 about measuring osmotic pressure published in 1953, which, as he put it, had “the dubious distinction of never being cited”.

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Nature 552 , 162-164 (2017)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-017-08404-0

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Correction 02 February 2018 : This article originally included a link to data behind the charts. Nature has subsequently been told that the data are not available to make public.

Smithies, O. Biochem. J. 55 , 57–67 (1953).

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Hamilton, D. P. Science 250 , 1331–1332 (1990).

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Pendlebury, D. A. Science 251 ,1410–1411 (1991).

Larivière, V., Gibgras, Y. & Archambault, E. J. Assoc. Inform. Sci. Tech. 60 , 858–862 (2009).

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Heneberg, P. J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. Tech. 64 , 448–454 (2013).

Egghe, L., Guns, R. & Rousseau, R. J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. Technol. 62 , 1637–1644 (2011).

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MacRoberts, M. H. & MacRoberts, B. R. J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. 61 , 1–12 (2010).

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MacRoberts, B. R. & MacRoberts, M. H. Phytologia 78 , 402–403 (1995).

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Egger, J. R., Konty, K. J., Borrelli, J. M., Cummiskey, J. & Blank, S. PLoS ONE 5 , e12231 (2010).

Blandamer, M. J., Buurma, N. J., Engberts, J. B. F. N & Reis, J. C. R. Org. Biomol. Chem. 1 , 720–723 (2003).

Kucherlapati, R. S., Faber, H. E., Poulik M. D., Ruddle, F. H. & Smithies, O. Cytogenet. Cell Genet. 16 , 178–180 (1976).

Peck, A. B. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 9, 351–353 (1926).

Pina-Martins, F., Vieira, B. M., Seabra, S. G., Batista, D. & Paulo, O. S. BMC Bioinformatics 17 , 41 (2016).

Conte, D., MacWilliams, H. K. & Ceccarelli, A. PLoS ONE 5 , e9676 (2010).

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Creating a Research Paper Without References

This article will provide an overview of the process for creating a research paper without references. It is intended as a resource for students, professors, and researchers alike who may be interested in exploring this alternative approach to scholarly writing. We will discuss the implications of such an approach from both practical and theoretical perspectives, highlighting considerations related to academic integrity and originality along the way. Additionally, we will examine various strategies that can be used to make sure any resulting work maintains rigorous standards expected by peer reviewers while simultaneously avoiding overly relying on external sources or citing too heavily from existing literature.

I. Introduction to Writing a Research Paper Without References

Ii. understanding the objectives of crafting an academic document unreferenced, iii. gathering information and analyzing data for inclusion in the project, iv. developing logical arguments to support your thesis statement, v. composing effective sentences with clear conclusions, vi. finalizing your research paper without citing sources or acknowledging contributors, vii. utilizing additional resources to help improve quality and clarity.

Impact of AI on Education AI technology is already being used in various educational contexts, with a variety of positive impacts. For instance, it has the potential to help reduce inequality between schools by providing access to tailored learning experiences for students and teachers alike. The use of AI can also streamline data-driven decision making related to educational outcomes, allowing institutions to quickly identify areas that need additional resources or intervention strategies. Additionally, AI tools can facilitate personalized content delivery based on individual learner needs and preferences which could make the learning experience more engaging and enjoyable for both students and educators.

However, there are some challenges associated with using AI technologies in education as well; most notably privacy concerns around the collection and storage of student data generated through these systems. This issue should be addressed appropriately before implementing any new initiatives utilizing this type of technology so that all stakeholders feel secure regarding their rights when it comes to how their information will be handled and protected.

A recent research paper published by Carnegie Mellon University highlights several successful examples where artificial intelligence has been effectively utilized in an instructional context over time (Kempe & Swanson 2018). They provide evidence showing increased student engagement levels as a result from introducing adaptive courseware platforms powered by machine learning algorithms into traditional teaching settings such as classrooms or lecture halls.

Composing a Research Paper without References When crafting an academic paper, references are essential for substantiating claims and assertions. But what happens when you’re tasked with producing a research paper without any source citations? It may seem like an impossible task, yet it is in fact possible to write such papers. Here we will examine the process of creating this kind of research work from beginning to end.

The primary challenge when writing without references is finding reliable sources for material needed within the project itself. Using information that cannot be verified can leave your paper open to criticism so attention must be paid here more than usual! One way around this hurdle is using personal experience or expertise as evidence – if you have practical knowledge of the subject at hand then use it confidently but sparingly throughout your paper to bolster credibility while avoiding overstating anything or making unsubstantiated statements. Alternatively, draw on existing scholarly works which do not need citing as they would already appear in their original author’s bibliography; many reputable publications provide excellent background information which can easily form part of any well-rounded argument made by yourself within the document

Clarifying the Aim: Writing an academic paper without references can be a difficult task. However, understanding why one would want to do this in the first place is essential for crafting successful documents. There are various reasons scholars may choose to write unreferenced papers – such as demonstrating independent thought or providing a unique insight into their research topic that doesn’t rely on previously published work.

For example, a student writing an undergraduate dissertation could choose to focus on generating new ideas through primary research and original data collection methods rather than relying heavily upon existing sources of information available in journals and books. Alternatively, postgraduate students undertaking more complex projects might utilise multiple datasets from different researchers but present them with no prior literature citations; instead contextualising these findings within the broader body of knowledge in their field.

Formatting Techniques: When creating an academic document without referencing material already written by others it is necessary to take certain formatting techniques into account during composition process. For instance, when attempting to support claims made within your work you must avoid using direct quotes from other authors unless absolutely necessary – paraphrasing arguments whilst citing evidence should form most of your discussion points throughout the document.

• • Highlight any particularly pertinent facts/evidence.
• • Use figures/diagrams wherever appropriate.

. Additionally it is important not only cite relevant background information which helps explain aspects which readers need clarification about but also offer up theories which challenge traditional understandings based on proven insights taken directly from your own research conclusions or related studies conducted by others where possible.

In order to include the necessary data in a project, it is essential to first gather information from various sources. This can be achieved through both qualitative and quantitative methods such as surveys, interviews, focus groups or existing research studies.

Once gathered, this data should then be analysed thoroughly using statistical analysis techniques like regression modelling or factor analysis for example. The output of these analyses are important insights that will aid in making informed decisions about the inclusion of specific datasets within the project. For instance they may reveal correlations between different variables which indicate their significance and relevance when evaluating potential sources of information for use within the scope of the project.

For instance , a study conducted by Smith (2020) found that there was a positive correlation between participant’s satisfaction levels and quality assurance measures implemented throughout software development processes. . Drawing upon such works provides valuable context into current understandings surrounding pertinent topics under examination whilst simultaneously offering additional perspectives on future strategies concerning methodology design choices etcetera .

Constructing Effective Arguments Writing a research paper is all about presenting well-structured and logical arguments to support your thesis statement. To do so, it’s important to understand the fundamentals of constructing an argument. This section will discuss these fundamentals in greater detail, including defining premises, analyzing evidence and applying reasoning for more persuasive outcomes. At the heart of any effective argument lies one or more premises. A premise can be thought of as an assertion that supports another claim; generally speaking they should be reasonable claims based on facts that have been verified through reliable sources. For instance, if you’re writing a paper about climate change you may include a premise such as “carbon dioxide emissions are increasing” which could then lead into further investigation on related issues like pollution control policies and global warming trends. The next step in developing strong arguments is understanding how to evaluate evidence – this includes examining both sides of any given issue before coming to your own conclusion regarding its validity or reliability . Consider two competing hypotheses: one claiming humans are primarily responsible for global warming while another maintains natural processes largely account for observed changes in temperature over time. Both hypotheses present compelling cases when backed by hard data but only after rigorous analysis can we make informed decisions around which theory holds true based upon solid scientific evidence . In order to reach this conclusion it helps immensely when delving into vast amounts primary source material available from authoritative journals throughout the academic community .

Once enough data has been collected , drawing logical conclusions is essential towards making an argument stronger . Applying deductive reasoning – where propositions logically derive from accepted truths – allows researchers arrive at definitive answers with greater ease than inductive methods (which attempt draw generalizations from empirical observation). Furthermore , utilizing sound principles logic also helps readers better follow along during complex discussions while strengthening overall credibility within written work itself providing useful insight to topics explored whether their aim analytical expository narrative summary other genre format chosen incorporate those techniques effectively higher marks scores likely result when done correctly yet poorly crafted deliverables often fail impress even though presented sound basis

Generating Ideas A crucial part of crafting effective sentences with clear conclusions is to know what you want to say. Generate ideas by exploring the topic in your research paper or any other material related to it. Consider both the subject and its implications for future studies, experiments, developments etc.. Take note of points that are interesting and relevant then outline them into a logical structure.

Organising Content Once done researching the topic thoroughly organise all content in order: start with an introduction containing key elements; create paragraphs using evidence-based arguments; link each point logically; conclude with thoughtful reflections on how this information affects real life scenarios. When putting together multiple pieces of content keep cohesion through parallelism: use similar sentence structures when introducing new ideas and repeat keywords as appropriate. This will help ensure accuracy throughout the sentence as well as boost readability for readers at all levels.

Minimizing Credit Given

• When finishing a research paper without citing sources or acknowledging contributors, it is important to limit the amount of credit given out.
• This can be done by utilizing certain strategies such as minimizing lengthy acknowledgements or avoiding offering personal thanks for assistance.

The goal should be to focus on summarizing any data and findings relevant to your research while limiting how much information about third-parties is revealed. When possible, strive for indirect citations instead of directly naming specific people who contributed to the project.

In this situation, you will also want to avoid using materials that have been published elsewhere since they are likely copyrighted and would require proper citation. The same goes for incorporating images in your research paper; unless permission has been granted from the original source, refrain from including them. Utilize generic terms when speaking of other people’s works whenever feasible so that their identity remains protected even if no acknowledgment was made at all.

The use of additional resources to improve the quality and clarity of an assignment is invaluable. Careful selection of helpful materials can be a useful tool in refining any work.

• One way to strengthen an academic paper or presentation is by incorporating reliable research material into your discussion. When using external sources, it’s important to consider their validity and credibility; this will give more weight to your arguments and help ensure accuracy in data being presented.
• Reading extensively on topics related to your assignment also enhances understanding about content while helping develop ideas for further inquiry. Take time researching relevant journals, books, online articles as well as other texts that offer insight into the topic you are studying.

Moreover, obtaining feedback from peers can be beneficial too – having someone else review draft papers before submission helps identify areas where edits might be needed for improved flow and structure. Getting input from those familiar with course material often yields valuable corrections which may not have been caught otherwise. Finally, there’s nothing like a bit of self-reflection after completion; stepping away from one’s own project gives room for critical analysis afterwards so that improvements could still be made when necessary.

This article has examined the challenges associated with creating a research paper without references. It was shown that although it is possible to write a quality paper without referencing, this may be difficult in certain situations where an author requires additional information or citations from other sources. Ultimately, while creating a research paper free of references can prove beneficial in some cases, it is important for authors to weigh their options and make informed decisions about when and how they should reference outside materials when drafting papers.

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Citing Sources

• How to Avoid Plagiarism
• Introduction
• Reading Citations

Best Practices for Avoiding Plagiarism

The entire section below came from a research guide from Iowa State University.  To avoid plagiarism, one must provide a reference to that source to indicate where the original information came from (see the "Source:" section below).

"There are many ways to avoid plagiarism, including developing good research habits, good time management, and taking responsibility for your own learning. Here are some specific tips:

• Don't procrastinate with your research and assignments. Good research takes time. Procrastinating makes it likely you'll run out of time or be unduly pressured to finish. This sort of pressure can often lead to sloppy research habits and bad decisions. Plan your research well in advance, and seek help when needed from your professor, from librarians and other campus support staff.
• Commit to doing your own work. If you don't understand an assignment, talk with your professor. Don't take the "easy way" out by asking your roommate or friends for copies of old assignments. A different aspect of this is group work. Group projects are very popular in some classes on campus, but not all. Make sure you clearly understand when your professor says it's okay to work with others on assignments and submit group work on assignments, versus when assignments and papers need to represent your own work.
•  Be 100% scrupulous in your note taking. As you prepare your paper or research, and as you begin drafting your paper. One good practice is to clearly label in your notes your own ideas (write "ME" in parentheses) and ideas and words from others (write "SMITH, 2005" or something to indicate author, source, source date). Keep good records of the sources you consult, and the ideas you take from them. If you're writing a paper, you'll need this information for your bibliographies or references cited list anyway, so you'll benefit from good organization from the beginning.
• Cite your sources scrupulously. Always cite other people's work, words, ideas and phrases that you use directly or indirectly in your paper. Regardless of whether you found the information in a book, article, or website, and whether it's text, a graphic, an illustration, chart or table, you need to cite it. When you use words or phrases from other sources, these need to be in quotes. Current style manuals are available at most reference desks and online. They may also give further advice on avoiding plagiarism.
• Understand good paraphrasing. Simply using synonyms or scrambling an author's words and phrases and then using these "rewrites" uncredited in your work is plagiarism, plain and simple. Good paraphrasing requires that you genuinely understand the original source, that you are genuinely using your own words to summarize a point or concept, and that you insert in quotes any unique words or phrases you use from the original source. Good paraphrasing also requires that you cite the original source. Anything less and you veer into the dangerous territory of plagiarism."

Source: Vega García, S.A. (2012). Understanding plagiarism: Information literacy guide. Iowa State University. Retrieved from  http://instr.iastate.libguides.com/content.php?pid=10314 . [Accessed January 3, 2017]

Plagiarism prevention.

• Plagiarism Prevention (onlinecolleges.net) This resource provides information about preventing plagiarism, understanding the various types of plagiarism, and learning how to cite properly to avoid plagiarism.

UCLA has a campuswide license to Turnitin.com. Faculty may turn in student papers electronically, where the text can be compared with a vast database of other student papers, online articles, general Web pages, and other sources. Turnitin.com then produces a report for the instructor indicating whether the paper was plagiarized and if so, how much.

For more information, go to Turnitin.com .

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Finding Scholarly Articles: Home

What's a Scholarly Article?

Your professor has specified that you are to use scholarly (or primary research or peer-reviewed or refereed or academic) articles only in your paper. What does that mean?

Scholarly or primary research articles are peer-reviewed , which means that they have gone through the process of being read by reviewers or referees  before being accepted for publication. When a scholar submits an article to a scholarly journal, the manuscript is sent to experts in that field to read and decide if the research is valid and the article should be published. Typically the reviewers indicate to the journal editors whether they think the article should be accepted, sent back for revisions, or rejected.

To decide whether an article is a primary research article, look for the following:

• The author’s (or authors') credentials and academic affiliation(s) should be given;
• There should be an abstract summarizing the research;
• The methods and materials used should be given, often in a separate section;
• There are citations within the text or footnotes referencing sources used;
• Results of the research are given;
• There should be discussion   and  conclusion ;
• With a bibliography or list of references at the end.

Caution: even though a journal may be peer-reviewed, not all the items in it will be. For instance, there might be editorials, book reviews, news reports, etc. Check for the parts of the article to be sure.   

You can limit your search results to primary research, peer-reviewed or refereed articles in many databases. To search for scholarly articles in  HOLLIS , type your keywords in the box at the top, and select  Catalog&Articles  from the choices that appear next.   On the search results screen, look for the  Show Only section on the right and click on  Peer-reviewed articles . (Make sure to  login in with your HarvardKey to get full-text of the articles that Harvard has purchased.)

Many of the databases that Harvard offers have similar features to limit to peer-reviewed or scholarly articles.  For example in Academic Search Premier , click on the box for Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals  on the search screen.

Review articles are another great way to find scholarly primary research articles.   Review articles are not considered "primary research", but they pull together primary research articles on a topic, summarize and analyze them.  In Google Scholar , click on Review Articles  at the left of the search results screen. Ask your professor whether review articles can be cited for an assignment.

A note about Google searching.  A regular Google search turns up a broad variety of results, which can include scholarly articles but Google results also contain commercial and popular sources which may be misleading, outdated, etc.  Use Google Scholar  through the Harvard Library instead.

About Wikipedia .  W ikipedia is not considered scholarly, and should not be cited, but it frequently includes references to scholarly articles. Before using those references for an assignment, double check by finding them in Hollis or a more specific subject  database .

Still not sure about a source? Consult the course syllabus for guidance, contact your professor or teaching fellow, or use the Ask A Librarian service.

• Last Updated: Oct 3, 2023 3:37 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.harvard.edu/FindingScholarlyArticles

Harvard University Digital Accessibility Policy

APA Style 7th Edition: Citing Your Sources

• Basics of APA Formatting
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Standard Format

Formatting rules, various examples.

• Thesis/Dissertation
• Audiovisual
• Conference Presentations
• Social Media
• Legal References
• Reports and Gray Literature
• Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
• Additional Resources
• Reference Page

Adapted from American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed).  https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

The following formats apply to all journals, periodicals, magazines, newspapers, etc. whether you found them in an online database, search engine, or in print.

• Volume, issue and page numbers in periodicals:  Continuous pagination throughout a volume: only cite the volume number (in italics), followed by a comma and then the page numbers: 20 , 344-367.
•   Do Not copy and paste URLS from library databases or other platforms that restrict public access.

See Ch. 10 pp. 313-352 of APA Manual for more examples and formatting rules

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Citation Errors in Scientific Research and Publications: Causes, Consequences, and Remedies

Ashok agarwal.

1 Global Andrology Forum, American Center for Reproductive Medicine, Moreland Hills, OH, USA.

2 Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA.

Mohamed Arafa

3 Department of Urology, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar.

4 Department of Andrology, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.

5 Department of Urology, Weill Cornell Medical-Qatar, Doha, Qatar.

Tomer Avidor-Reiss

6 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA.

7 Department of Urology, College of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA.

Taha Abo-Almagd Abdel-Meguid Hamoda

8 Department of Urology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

9 Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, Egypt.

10 Department of Urology, Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, India.

INTRODUCTION

Scientific research depends on the gathering of existing knowledge by collecting data from previous research and then building upon the collected data to design new research projects with the goal of answering unanswered scientific questions [ 1 ]. Therefore, proper citation of previously published studies is an essential and integral part of conducting medical research. Citations are used to establish the current state of knowledge in the subject being studied, identify gaps in the literature, and explain and debate the results of ongoing research [ 1 ]. This process requires proper identification and validation of the integrity of citations. Although it is recommended that the entire research paper is fully reviewed before being cited [ 2 , 3 ], it is a common experience that this is often not done, and it is reported that up to 80% of authors omit to read the full text of the research paper they are citing [ 3 ]. This omission can perpetuate significant errors within an article in the literature and mislead the research being reported [ 4 , 5 ].

Recently, there has been heightened focus on research ethics to detect fraudulent research [ 6 ], and many research oversight bodies have been founded and several guidelines have been published. These bodies include the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Most of these guidelines have been adopted by scientific journals and are stated as prerequisites for accepting manuscripts for publication [ 7 ]. However, although some authors have discussed citation errors in scientific publications [ 5 , 7 , 8 ], there are no guidelines or tools available to rectify these errors.

The Global Andrology Forum (GAF) is an online global research group which has published extensively on andrological topics [ 9 ]. It is a standard practice in the GAF to perform an intensive internal review of all citations in our manuscripts before submission to the journals. Recently, while internally reviewing one of our manuscripts being prepared for submission, the GAF reviewers identified errors in approximately 20% of citations. The manuscript had 145 references that were cited 172 times in the text. The most common error was incorrect citation information (n=9), followed by unjustified extrapolation of the conclusion of the cited work (n=6), factual errors (n=5), incorrect interpretation of results (n=5), citing a secondary source (n=4), citing a wrong reference (n=2), ignoring more suitable reference (n=2), and citing an unreliable source (n=1). The extent and importance of the problem of citation errors became evident to us, prompting us to highlight the need for routine review and audit of all citations, using the full-text of cited papers rather than their abstracts, before a manuscript is approved for submission for publication.

COMMON REASONS WHY AUTHORS FAIL TO REVIEW THE ENTIRE PAPER BEFORE CITATION

Though it is recommended that the primary or original article be thoroughly reviewed before it is cited, a common experience is that this is often not done. In fact, it has been estimated that only 20% of authors read the original paper that is being cited [ 4 ]. This practice of omitting the primary source and relying on secondary sources can result in negative consequences with misinterpretation of the cited information or unjustified extrapolation of conclusions, leading to the perpetuation and propagation of significant errors and potential misinformation [ 5 , 10 ]. We hereby highlight some of the common reasons why many authors do not read the entire full text of a paper before citing it.

Author-related factors

• - Too much time and effort are required to check the full paper for each citation.
• - Authors underestimate the importance of best citation practice.
• - Authors think that citations in the introduction section are not important and hence approach them casually.
• - Junior authors may make faulty citations that are not detected and corrected by senior authors.
• - Authors may be biased toward papers from colleagues, mentors, or well-known authors, and thus ignore more appropriate papers from other authors.
• - Selection bias, where newer sources are ignored, and older popular references are repeatedly cited.
• - “Citation Metrics” influence, where authors are more concerned about the “number” of their publications rather than their quality.
• - Self-citation ( e.g ., citing irrelevant previous self-publication).
• - Unnecessarily redundant citations (needlessly including several references for the same information).
• - Intentional or unintentional distortion of the cited findings or conclusions to support or endorse the authors’ findings or conclusions.

2. Article-related factors

• - The full text of a paper is inaccessible.
• - The abstract is thought to be sufficient for the cited findings/interpretation.
• - Relying on familiar articles or narrative reviews and their reference lists and neglecting unfamiliar more recent sources.
• - The secondary source is thought to be reliable enough.

3. Journal-related factors

• - Influence of journal editors or reviewers, suggesting specific citations.
• - Authors may try to satisfy a journal editor by including more citations from the target journal.
• - Authors rely on the publishing journal to correct the style and accuracy of references. Journals usually review the reference style but with no verification of information.

4. Guidelines-related factors

• - Lack of (or scarce) clear guidelines on “Best Citation Practice.”
• - Lack of training in “Best Citation Practices”, while extensive training and guidance are provided for “Literature Search and Data Extraction.”
• - Lack of automated software to help authors, reviewers, and journals to check citation accuracy.

COMMON CITATION ERRORS AND THEIR PROPOSED REMEDIES

Several types of citation errors may be encountered during the citation process. Here we discuss the different categories of common citation errors and provide their proposed remedies.

1. Non-citing error

Often, a paper makes a general claim but omits to provide a supporting citation. This error may be because the authors are very familiar with the subject and thus a statement is taken for granted as generally known or accepted knowledge. Alternatively, it may be a case of simple oversight on the authors’ part.

These types of errors can be overcome by carefully reviewing the manuscript and ensuring that all claims, whether they are major or minor, are supported by at least one appropriate citation.

2. Factual error

This type of error may be an incorrect description of the findings of a paper, such as the mechanism of action that was elucidated or a function of a molecule, cell, or organ that was postulated. Alternatively, it can be a numerical error, such as incorrectly citing the prevalence of a condition or a disease. Another related error is an incorrect interpretation arising from an unjustified extrapolation of a paper’s conclusion.

These error types can be overcome by careful reading and analysis of the full text of the article.

3. Selective citation

This type of error appears to have many mistake subtypes. For example, authors may cite their own papers or those of their close colleagues over others because they are more familiar with these studies. Another error is ignoring more suitable citations, such as more recent papers, due to a lack of updated knowledge on the subject. Authors may select smaller studies over more extensive studies because they fit the author’s hypothesis better.

These types of errors can be overcome by systematic literature review and searching the literature using objective means such as word searches of paper databases [ 11 ].

4. Incorrect source type

It is common to find citations of secondary literature such as reviews and books without citing the primary research paper that reported the original finding.

This error can be overcome by citing the review paper (to demonstrate that the original idea got accepted) alongside the original source.

5. Insufficient support

As research on a particular area evolves, some old information falls out of favor, and some become more popular.

It is, therefore, vital to substantiate claims by citing, along with the original paper, recent research, and review papers, to indicate the author’s claim has general support.

6. Wrong citation

This type of error occurs when a wrong reference is added to the cited information.

This type of error can be overcome by carefully reviewing the full text article to ensure that all cited information are supported by the appropriate reference.

7. Incorrect technical details

This type of error involves inaccurate details of author names, journal names, dates, and page numbers of the cited paper.

These errors can be easily overcome by systematically organizing all paper citations and using automated reference management software packages such as: EndNote, RefWorks, Zotero, and others.

BEST PRACTICES FOR CITATIONS

Below are everyday situations requiring citations when writing original research, review, or editorial papers. Each situation is described as a pairing of Purpose and Practice. More technical guidelines for proper citation can be found in the book, “Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th edition, 2020) – the official guide to the APA Style” [ 12 ].

• Purpose : Making a factual claim in a paper.
• Practice : Every factual claim must be supported by a citation.
• This point may sound trivial, but it is common to see papers making specific claims and not substantiating them with references.
• Purpose : Citing a specific paper to support a claim.
• Practice : Download the cited paper and mark the relevant section in the paper. Have the marked paper available for your co-authors to validate the accuracy of the citation and ask them to validate each source independently.
• Purpose : Citing a scientific discovery.
• Practice : Cite the original paper that made the discovery. Also, cite additional papers showing that the finding is reproducible. If the papers were written more than ten years ago, cite a recent review to demonstrate the discovery is still relevant and accepted in the scientific community.
• Purpose : Citing an original research paper versus citing a review paper.
• Practice : Citing the original paper (primary source) is the best practice. An original research paper is cited using a simple citation that does not require an explanation. However, citing a review paper (secondary source) needs disclosure of the fact that a review paper is being cited. For example, you can cite “(Smith et al., 1970).” Alternatively, if you cannot find the primary source, you need to identify the primary source in this way “(Smith et al., 1970, as cited in Cohen et al., 2020).”
• Purpose : Citing a numerical value such as the percentage of couples with infertility.
• Practice : Cite several of the most recent original papers to provide a range of numbers or an average. Include information on the study’s size, location, and timing so the audience can assess the quality of the studies.
• Purpose : Citing an original research paper finding while disagreeing with the original interpretation.
• Practice : Cite the specific paper and indicate the figure or table containing the controversial data. For example, you can cite “(Smith et al., 1970, Fig 1).” Indicate clearly what is the original interpretation of the data and what your interpretation is.
• Purpose : Expressing an opinion based on a claim in a paper.
• Practice : Clearly indicate that the opinion you express is your own, and then cite the paper.
• Purpose : Citing an interpretation or opinion of a claim in a paper.
• Practice : Clearly indicate this is an interpretation or opinion based on a published claim, and then cite the paper you are referring to.

While writing multi-author papers, we have repeatedly observed citation errors, including a large proportion of authors who tend to cite references merely based on abstracts found during a quick PubMed search. Another common erroneous citation practice is to blindly trust the information referenced by other authors in secondary sources and simply accept and adopt the information in their articles, without checking the original primary source.

These practices, and the other errors listed previously, can lead to incorrect and misleading citations. Abstracts often do not paint the complete picture and may lack adequate information to judge the validity of the citation. Furthermore, citations in secondary sources might be incorrect because the authors may have: (1) made an incorrect interpretation of the cited article as they did not read the entire original article; (2) cited a wrong article in support of their claim; (3) drawn an inaccurate conclusion from the cited article; and/or (4) presented a biased view of someone’s research or opinions and they narrate it inaccurately to serve their purpose or point of view. Importantly, repeated rewording and reiteration in secondary sources (repeated paraphrasing) can eventually result in distortion of the original information – which is very similar to the broken telephone game or transmission chain experiments.

All the citation errors discussed here can lead to the proliferation of inaccuracies and half-truths, or even completely false information, in the scientific literature. These inaccuracies and errors, even though largely unintentional, harm the sanctity of scientific literature. We must reject the notion that these are just minor errors, harmless to a paper’s main message, and therefore they do not matter and need not be pursued. No error is too small to bother, and there should be no room for error in any aspect of the work required to build an article of the highest quality and reliability.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• - It is essential to seek access to a full paper and review it carefully before citing it.
• - In cases when access to an entire article is unavailable for any reason, relying on a mere abstract is not the best practice. In all such circumstances, the ideal option is to find the full article by requesting it through an institutional inter-library loan, or requesting it from the author, or asking a colleague who has access to the necessary resources.
• - If an article of interest is in a language other than English, the author should not exclude it automatically. The author should seek help translating the article so it can be read carefully to judge if is suitable as a reference.
• - It is important not to exclude articles from the search string without making all necessary attempts to find and read them. This process may be laborious and may delay the manuscript’s writing by few days or even weeks, but, in the end, having reviewed and cited all important information published shows the thoroughness of the literature review, which raises the quality of reported findings.
• - A policy of verification of citations by another author is also critical. An experienced senior author should adjudicate any conflicting results at this stage.
• - There is a need to develop clear and specific guidelines on “Best Citation Practices” and to train researchers to follow them correctly and to understand the implications of citation errors in a larger context.

CONCLUSIONS

Good research requires a lot of hard work, patience, determination, and accuracy. We cannot have a high-quality paper if the foundation of our arguments is contaminated with unverified or inaccurate information. Authors should not rely on abstracts or secondary sources for citations. Clear guidelines dedicated to “Best Citation Practices” are needed to improve the accuracy and quality of scientific literature.

Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful to Parviz Kavoussi, MD (Austin, USA), Manaf Al-Hashimi, MD (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and Damayanthi Durairajanayagam, PhD (Selangor, Malaysia) for their review and editing of this manuscript.

Conflict of Interest: The authors have nothing to disclose.

Funding: None.

Author Contribution: All authors have contributed to the writing of the editorial.

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In-Text Citations: The Basics

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Note:  This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style  can be found here .

Reference citations in text are covered on pages 261-268 of the Publication Manual. What follows are some general guidelines for referring to the works of others in your essay.

Note:  On pages 117-118, the Publication Manual suggests that authors of research papers should use the past tense or present perfect tense for signal phrases that occur in the literature review and procedure descriptions (for example, Jones (1998)  found  or Jones (1998)  has found ...). Contexts other than traditionally-structured research writing may permit the simple present tense (for example, Jones (1998)  finds ).

APA Citation Basics

When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, like, for example, (Jones, 1998). One complete reference for each source should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

If you are referring to an idea from another work but  NOT  directly quoting the material, or making reference to an entire book, article or other work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication and not the page number in your in-text reference.

On the other hand, if you are directly quoting or borrowing from another work, you should include the page number at the end of the parenthetical citation. Use the abbreviation “p.” (for one page) or “pp.” (for multiple pages) before listing the page number(s). Use an en dash for page ranges. For example, you might write (Jones, 1998, p. 199) or (Jones, 1998, pp. 199–201). This information is reiterated below.

Regardless of how they are referenced, all sources that are cited in the text must appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.

In-text citation capitalization, quotes, and italics/underlining

• Always capitalize proper nouns, including author names and initials: D. Jones.
• If you refer to the title of a source within your paper, capitalize all words that are four letters long or greater within the title of a source:  Permanence and Change . Exceptions apply to short words that are verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs:  Writing New Media ,  There Is Nothing Left to Lose .

( Note:  in your References list, only the first word of a title will be capitalized:  Writing new media .)

• When capitalizing titles, capitalize both words in a hyphenated compound word:  Natural-Born Cyborgs .
• Capitalize the first word after a dash or colon: "Defining Film Rhetoric: The Case of Hitchcock's  Vertigo ."
• If the title of the work is italicized in your reference list, italicize it and use title case capitalization in the text:  The Closing of the American Mind ;  The Wizard of Oz ;  Friends .
• If the title of the work is not italicized in your reference list, use double quotation marks and title case capitalization (even though the reference list uses sentence case): "Multimedia Narration: Constructing Possible Worlds;" "The One Where Chandler Can't Cry."

Short quotations

If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year of publication, and page number for the reference (preceded by "p." for a single page and “pp.” for a span of multiple pages, with the page numbers separated by an en dash).

You can introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last name followed by the date of publication in parentheses.

If you do not include the author’s name in the text of the sentence, place the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation.

Long quotations

Place direct quotations that are 40 words or longer in a free-standing block of typewritten lines and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented 1/2 inch from the left margin, i.e., in the same place you would begin a new paragraph. Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation 1/2 inch from the new margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout, but do not add an extra blank line before or after it. The parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark.

Because block quotation formatting is difficult for us to replicate in the OWL's content management system, we have simply provided a screenshot of a generic example below.

Formatting example for block quotations in APA 7 style.

Quotations from sources without pages

Direct quotations from sources that do not contain pages should not reference a page number. Instead, you may reference another logical identifying element: a paragraph, a chapter number, a section number, a table number, or something else. Older works (like religious texts) can also incorporate special location identifiers like verse numbers. In short: pick a substitute for page numbers that makes sense for your source.

Summary or paraphrase

If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication in your in-text reference and may omit the page numbers. APA guidelines, however, do encourage including a page range for a summary or paraphrase when it will help the reader find the information in a longer work.