Guest Post: Citing References for Scientific Publication

[Our first guest post of 2017 is by Sergio Lozano, an AuthorAID participant from Mexico. Dr. Lozano is a physician and editor. Here he presents important basics of citing references in research publications. Thank you, Sergio! —Barbara]

Citations in scientific publications usually are references to bibliographic sources such as journal articles, books, or book chapters. However, they also can be references to web pages, audio and video, and other sources.

Citations are important because they add credibility to your work, acknowledge the work of others, help others find important and useful information, uphold honesty, and help avoid plagiarism.

Different publications use different citation systems. Systems differ in how they cite references in the text. They also differ in how they format references in the reference list. And they differ in the order in which they list references.

Some commonly used systems are the Vancouver (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) system, the Harvard system, the Chicago system, the Modern Language Association (MLA) system, and the American Psychological Association (APA) system.

Which system to use depends on your target journal and your area of science. For example, Vancouver style is commonly used in medicine, and APA style is commonly used in nursing, psychology, and social science.

To determine which system to use, carefully read the author instructions of your target journal. Also look at some articles in the journal. See how they cite references in the text and how they list them in the reference list.

References commonly contain errors. Always check your references to make sure they are complete and correct. Remember: Some journals ask you to include the DOIs (digital object identifiers) of references.

By citing references appropriately, you can impress peer reviewers and editors. More important, you will serve readers well.