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Cite it right

In academic writing, you must refer to your sources and cite them correctly. The demands may vary between different studies and fields, so “correctly” in this context is a very broad concept. Some use name/year in parenthesis, others use numbers in parenthesis, some use numbers superscripted, others use name/year in the footnote system.

There are many different citation styles:  APA, MLA and Vancouver are just a few. Each academic field has its own preferences, and there is often an academic organisation behind a style. For instance, health studies tend to follow the NLM or Vancouver style, while interdisciplinary fields in the humanities or social studies tend to use the APA or Harvard.

If you need help with a specific style, you can find guides or tutorials on the web, but be sure to check the original sources. Below you can get an overview over the many styles you can choose from, and which fields of research they belong to. Ask your supervisor, if you are in doubt about which one to choose.

Reference styles

ABBREVIATION FIELD INSTITUTION TITLE FORMAT TYPE
AMA / JAMA Medicine, HEALTH American Medical Association AMA Manual of Style E-book Numerical1
APA 7th Interdisc. HUM+ SOC.SC. +HEALTH, Psychology, Education, Communication and Cultural studies. American Psychological Association Publication manual of the American Psychological Association 7th

APA Style 7th Blog

APA 7th-Guiden
Book, order via Summon




Blog




SDUB's guide about APA 7th in Danish
Author/Year
CBE Biology Council of Biology Editors Style Manual Committee Scientific style and format: The CBE manual for authors, editors, and publishers Book, order via Summon Numerical(1) or Author/Year
CBPA SCIENCE Comparative Biochemistry & Physiology Part A: Molecular and Integrative Physiology

[Comp Biochem Phys-part A]
Guideline for authors Website Author/Year
Chicago/
Turabian
History, Law, Philosophy, American Studies University of Chicago Chicago Manual of Style E-book Author/Year or Footnotes
Harvard Interdisc. SOC. SC.+HEALTH+TECH, Business Harvard follows standard DS/ISO 690. DS/ISO 690:2021 (Eng. ed.)

DS/ISO 690:2013 (Dan. ed.)
ISO Standard

Log in by “Adgang via uddannelsessted”, choose SDU.
Author/Year
 IEEE TECH, engineering, computer science, math. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE Editorial Style Manual   Website w. pdf
(IEEE Reference Guide)
 Numerical [1]
MLA HUM, Classical studies, Literature, Language. Modern Language Association MLA Handbook

MLA Style Center
Book, order via Summon

Website
Author/Year
NLM HEALTH, Medicine National Library of Medicine Citing Medicine
E-book Numerical(1)
Vancouver HEALTH, Medicine International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Uniform Requirements
for Manuscripts


NB: refers to NLMs Citing Medicine.
Website
Numerical(1)
Reference Management Tools

SDU students have free access to the programme Endnote. But you can also choose to use Words inherent reference feature.

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Last Updated 23.07.2021