5 Tips for Making the Perfect Citation

You’ve heard this a million times; don’t forget to cite any references! Well, there is a reason your professors stress this out every single time. Not only does adequate citation portray how professional and competent you are, but it also prevents anyone from suspecting you of plagiarizing work.

 However, the rigor of keeping tabs on all the sources you’re using and ensuring the proper style is used might be a hassle. There is a loophole around this; finding the perfect rhythm and tips for making citations. Here are our top 5 suggestions that ensure outstanding citation skills are consistently followed.

1. Check Your Quotation

You might think using external resources won’t give you the proper citation. On the contrary, it’s proven to be an efficient and effective tool, especially when you have many sources. Hence, instead of getting overwhelmed, using citemysource.org guarantees, you get the precise source from which your quote was extracted. That saves you the trouble of constantly writing down a new reference on the side, then adding them all together. Such a database cross-references your input to return the source you’ve used. Hence, if you ever find a quote you like from an unauthorized website, you can check where it originated.

2. Double Check the Periods

You’re probably confused about why such a trivial punctuation mark can cause a disaster. Well, a misplaced period can alter your reference. Moreover, some academicians might regard it as careless or lacking attention to detail. Hence, avoid it altogether and check where the punctuation mark must be placed according to your style. For instance, the period is set outside the parenthesis in APA and MLA.

 3. Don’t Forget to Cite Yourself!

 It’s a rather heated debate whether self-plagiarism deserves sanction or not. After all, if you use your own piece of writing, how would it classify as cheating or stealing? Well, you might run into some issues with that for two reasons. First, most colleges will use software to check your paper against others. This detects whether it’s been copied from an extensive database that often includes your previously submitted work. Moreover, writing a research paper requires an ample amount of research. Hence, if you’re simply copying off your previous work, your professor might think you have made no progress.

4. Double Check the Type of Source

Wondering how to cite a source in an essay requires finding the particular citation method for the source you’re using. Music, books, magazines, videos, podcasts, and films have slightly different formats. So, once you figure out which style you’re expected to use, often told by your professor, ensure you’re formatting your sources correctly.

5. Keep Track (In-text and References)

Follow this tip if you want to figure out how to do citations. While writing the article, make sure you write the in-text citation instantly. Otherwise, you might forget where exactly it belongs. As you do so, compile the list of references you’re using to add it all together at the very end.

Conclusion

All things considered, don’t neglect your citations. Instead, keep things in order while you’re writing your piece. Moreover, following the above tips consistently guarantees a great outcome. However, keep in mind that minor details are the things that have the potential to mess up your paper.