While writing an academic paper, we have to gather data from different resources. It is necessary for us to provide references to these resources in order to save our academic paper from plagiarism issues. A set of rules to cite these resources is known as reference style. There are different citation styles are available to cite these resources. The best citation styles are APA, MLA and Chicago. Different universities and academic disciplines follow different reference styles. Here, experts of PhD dissertation writing services will provide a comprehensive guide for citation styles and formatting.
Differences Between Citation Styles and Formatting:
When there come citation styles and formatting, we experience two main features. First of all, there comes the style of a resource in the references list. The second feature is relevant to the in-text citation system. Mostly three in-text citations systems are used to reference a resource. The first system is known as the author-date system. In the author-date system, we have to write the name of the author and date of publication. The second system is known as a numerical system. In the numerical system, we provide a particular number to each resource. The third system is known as the notation system. In the notation system, we write the resources in the footnotes or endnotes.
Guide for Citation Styles:
Citation style is an often-overlooked component of a research paper. Most of the students ignore it. A guide for citation styles is explained below;
- Sometimes, there is a possibility that you have to write the original information of a resource in an academic paper. Under such a situation, the best way to get rid of plagiarism is to include in-text or parenthetical citations.
- There are some students who don’t know how to put the periods and parenthesis in an academic paper. In the reference styles, the periods always go after the parenthesis.
- Mostly used citation styles in the academic papers are MLA, APA and Chicago. While referencing your resources by following any reference style, you should show consistency.
- You should cite all the sources while writing an academic paper. Its reason is that if you cite the sources after completing your academic paper, there is a possibility that you will forget some sources and there may occur plagiarism issues.
- The students should try to cite only authentic resources. There is no need to cite ordinary resources.
Guide for Formatting:
The overall layout of a document is known as its format. A comprehensive guide for formatting a dissertation is given below;
- The first step for formatting an academic paper is to choose the best style manual. Some essential style manuals are APA, MLA and Chicago.
- The print and copy quality of the papers should also be impressive.
- The typefaces should be set at 12 points throughout the academic paper.
- The margin of the paper should at one inch from all the sides of the paper.
- There is no need to keep more than two inches of white space in the academic paper.
- There should be double spacing between all the words in the academic paper.
