1 What Is a Citation?
What is a citation?
You may think of referencing as something specific only to academic discourse, but we actually use references informally in our daily lives all the time. You are doing this to let the other person know from where you got this information.
Everyday referencing examples
In academic discourse, we are doing a similar type of referencing, but it happens in a more formal and prescribed way through a process called citation. In a citation, you will give very specific key information.
Academic referencing examples
These are footnote citations where information is given in full the first time, then shortened in subsequent footnotes (usually to author, title and page number only).
Footnotes generally also have an entry in the bibliography at the end of your writeup. There, the full information for all sources used is given, arranged in alphabetical order, so the reader can find the source.
Key Takeaways
A citation:
- is a reference to a source of information
- gives specific key information about the source, so the reader can find it
- gives full information about the source in the footnote the first time it is cited, then only shortened information, usually consisting of author, title and page number for subsequent citations of the same source
- gives full information about all sources used in an alphabetical bibliography at the end
