Definitions
Citation: A citation, or in-text citation, is a quotation from or a reference to a particular point in a book, journal article or other scholarly work within the text of your paper or thesis. Details of the scholarly work, including page numbers, is included in the citation (of footnote belonging to the citation), and then the full details of the work are listed again at the end of the chapter in a list of references, or in the bibliography at the end of your assignment/thesis, in a slightly different format.
Reference: A reference gives the full publication details of a published academic work that you have used in the research for your assignment or thesis. It is included in the list of references or bibliography of your assignment/thesis.
It can also sometimes be called an end-of-paper citation or end-of-paper reference. Confusingly, sometimes references are called citations.
List of References: A list of references is a list of the academic works that you have referred to in your assignment or thesis. It can be at the end of a chapter or an paper.
Bibliography: a bibliography is a list of all the published and unpublished academic works that you have used in the research for your assignment, whether you have referred to it in your text, just used it as part of your research or if it influenced your thinking. The references are listed in alphabetical order by author's or editor's surname (or by title if no author), and give the full publication details of each work.
Superscript & Footnote: A superscript is a number that is placed at the top right-hand corner of a word at the point in your text right after you either quote from another person's work, or refer to their work or ideas. This number refers to a footnote that is then placed at the bottom of the page. The footnote contains the publication details of the text you are referring to, or quoting from.
Quotation: a quotation is a section of text from an academic publication that you include in your paper to illustrate your point or provide evidence and support your point of view and conclusions. You will use either a run-in quotation or a block/indented quotation depending on the length of your quote.
Paraphrase: to paraphrase is to rephrase or put into your own words the words of another author's writing. This can be done to make it fit your own writing style or to condense another author's longer piece of text.
Hanging indent or Paragraph: a hanging indent or paragraph is where the 2nd and any subsequent lines of a paragraph are indented by a half inch. This technique can be used in bibliographies.
Plagiarism: to plagiarise is to take someone else's ideas or work and present them as your own. This can be intentional, accidental or due to lack of knowledge about the rules of citing and referencing. However, it is taken very seriously by all academic institutions. It is always better to cite than not to cite. Always follow your school's instructions in this matter.
Academic Journal: an academic journal is a scholarly publication issued a number of times a year, i.e. a serialised or periodical publication. It covers a particular academic field or discipline and its aim is to present authors' research, present it for review and debate by other researchers in the academic community. Such journals have a visually plainer look than ordinary magazines, the language is more formal and specialised and the articles are well-structured. An editor or editorial board reviews all articles submitted for publication and published articles are edited/corrected where necessary.
Peer-reviewed Journal/Scholarly Journal: an academic journal where all the published articles are critically evaluated by scholars/experts in their field before they are published. This level of scrutiny provides an extra guarantee of the quality and accuracy of the article published.
Scholar: a scholar is a highly qualified academic who is a expert in a particular field or discipline and who conducts research in that area.
Secondary Reference: a secondary reference is one that you have not actually read but which has been referred to in another publication that you have read.
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