Nazarbayev University LibGuides: Public Policy: Citation Tools

Why citing is important

It's important to cite sources you used in your research for several reasons:

To show your reader you've done proper research by listing sources you used to get your information

To be a responsible scholar by giving credit to other researchers and acknowledging their ideas

To avoid plagiarism by quoting words and ideas used by other authors

To allow your reader to track down the sources you used by citing them accurately in your paper by way of footnotes, a bibliography or reference list

About citations

Citing a source means that you show, within the body of your text, that you took words, ideas, figures, images, etc. from another place.

Citations are a short way to uniquely identify a published work (e.g. book, article, chapter, web site). They are found in bibliographies and reference lists and are also collected in article and book databases.

Citations consist of standard elements, and contain all the information necessary to identify and track down publications, including:

author name(s)
titles of books, articles, and journals
date of publication
page numbers
volume and issue numbers (for articles)

Citations may look different, depending on what is being cited and which style was used to create them. Choose an appropriate style guide for your needs. Here is an example of an article citation using four different citation styles. Notice the common elements as mentioned above:

Author - R. Langer

Article Title - New Methods of Drug Delivery

Source Title - Science

Volume and issue - Vol 249, issue 4976

Publication Date - 1990

Page numbers - 1527-1533

American Chemical Society (ACS) style:

Langer, R. New Methods of Drug Delivery. Science 1990, 249, 1527-1533.

IEEE Style:

R. Langer, "New Methods of Drug Delivery," Science, vol. 249, pp. 1527-1533, SEP 28, 1990.

American Psychological Association (APA) style:

Langer, R. (1990). New methods of drug delivery. Science, 249(4976), 1527-1533.

Modern Language Association (MLA) style:

Langer, R. "New Methods of Drug Delivery." Science 249.4976(1990): 1527-33.

What to cite

You must cite:

Facts, figures, ideas, or other information that is not common knowledge
Ideas, words, theories, or exact language that another person used in other publications
Publications that must be cited include: books, book chapters, articles, web pages, theses, etc.
Another person's exact words should be quoted and cited to show proper credit

When in doubt, be safe and cite your source!

Avoiding plagiarism

Plagiarism occurs when you borrow another's words (or ideas) and do not acknowledge that you have done so. In this culture, we consider our words and ideas intellectual property; like a car or any other possession, we believe our words belong to us and cannot be used without our permission.

Plagiarism is a very serious offense. If it is found that you have plagiarized -- deliberately or inadvertently -- you may face serious consequences. In some instances, plagiarism has meant that students have had to leave the institutions where they were studying.

The best way to avoid plagiarism is to cite your sources - both within the body of your paper and in a bibliography of sources you used at the end of your paper.

What is citation software?

Citation software helps you to:

Import citations from your favorite databases and websites.
Build and organize bibliographies.
Format citations for papers.
Take notes on articles and save them in your collection of citations.
Save and organize PDFs, screenshots, graphs, images, and other files for your research.

Which program is right for you?

The NU Library support EndNote, Zotero, and Mendeley. How do you know which program is right for you? Some things to think about when you choose:

What programs are your colleagues using? For example, if fellow researchers are all using Zotero to share citations, you might consider Zotero so that you can share your research, too.
Use what you like! There is no one perfect program, so use what you're comfortable with.
You can use more than one software. Records can be transferred from one program to another, so don't feel limited to choosing only one.

	EndNote	Zotero	Mendeley
Strengths?	Excellent for organizing citations for papers and theses Good customer support Highly customizable Can handle a large amount of references	Simple download of records Good for managing a variety of formats, including web pages Lots of functionality in an open-source product. Downloads records from several databases that don't work with other citation products, including Factiva, USPTO, Espacenet, & FreePatentsOnline. Can share citations and documents with others	Great for managing PDFs Does a good job of pulling citation metadata from PDFs Can share citations and documents with others
Type	Desktop client software; also has web interface, EndNote Basic, through Web of Knowledge.	Desktop software and browser add-on for Firefox, Chrome, and Safari.	Desktop software and web-based. Works with IE, Firefox, Chrome and Safari.
Learning curve	Takes longer to learn, but not difficult with training.	Quick to learn; simple design, many online user guides and demos.	Quick to learn; Pretty simple interface.
How does it work?	Export references from compatible databases into EndNote.	Zotero can tell when you are looking at an item and shows an icon for it in the browser's URL bar. Click the icon to add the item to your Zotero references.	Export references from compatible databases. Mendeley will also retrieve metadata for pdfs that are brought in.
How simple is it to import records?	Simple to import records from most research databases.	Very simple, as long as the resource is compatible with Zotero.	Very simple using the Mendeley browser plugin. However, the import doesn't work with as many databases as other products.
Can you export records to other citation software?	Yes.	Yes.	Yes.
Does it work with word processing software?	Yes. Powerful formatting and customization features in Word; also works with LaTeX through BibTeX and Open Office.	Yes. Works with Word and LibreOffice; also works with LaTeX through BibTeX. You can create a list of Works Cited for Google Docs.	Yes. Works with Word and OpenOffice; also works with LaTeX through BibTeX.
Other important features	Has a "find full text" option to download full text for records (when you have access to the PDF)	Can be used for collaborative work with groups Will automatically attach PDFs to records if you choose If you back up records, you can sync multiple computers Integrated with work on web that you do	Very good for collaborative work If you back up records, you can sync multiple computers