Main Body
3.3 Citations and Citation Styles
As in all academic writing, you will be asked to document your sources in engineering technical communications. When you reference information or ideas from a book, article, website, handout, presentation, etc. in your own writing, you must tell your reader where it came from—failure to do so is plagiarism and academic misconduct. Citing sources also connects your reader to a broader range of sources and information, and it ultimately builds your credibility as a communicator.
Citation styles are a set of conventions or rules for giving credit to source material. Different disciplines use different styles. For instance, you are likely familiar with the Modern Language Association (MLA) style from English or writing classes, since this style is most commonly used in the arts and humanities.
At this university, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and American Psychological Association (APA) styles are most commonly used. Familiarize yourself with the basic guidelines of those styles—an overview is provided below. You can find a longer list of citations styles and information from the Ohio State Libraries here.
Check the assignment sheet or ask your professor/TA about their requirements for citations because they may vary, but always assume that you need to cite your sources.
Recognize that various citation styles exist—you can research and use them when needed. Even if you make a mistake in the punctuation or formatting, you absolutely must make an effort to credit source material. Check the assignment sheet or ask your professor/TA about their requirements for citations because they may vary, but always assume that you need to cite your sources.
Citing Sources — the Basics
Citation styles typically define the rules for two main components:
- In-text citations. Indicate basic, limited information about the source in the flow of the text, wherever the information or idea is directly referenced in your writing. Also referred to as “textual citations.”
- List of sources. A separate listing of all sources used with detailed and complete publication or location information. Depending on style, this list has different names and will follow various organizational patterns. Anything referenced in an in-text citation must have a corresponding entry on the source list.
IEEE
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) developed a citation style that is used widely within computer science and engineering and is similar to many of the styles used by other specific engineering disciplines.
| In-text citations | Numbers in square brackets are used to identify the source in the sentence—use space before the bracket and place before any punctuation.
It is not necessary to reference the author’s name, although the author may be referenced in the sentence—this is your choice as a writer. Multiple sources are presented with each number in brackets and separated by commas. Sources are numbered in order that they are presented in the text (i.e. the first source is [1], the second is [2]); once a source is numbered, use the same number if it is referenced elsewhere in the document. Examples: |
|---|---|
| List of sources | A list titled “References” is placed after the main text of the document.
Sources are presented in numerical order; bracketed numbers are flush left with a hanging indent. Article titles are in quotation marks; book/journal titles are in italics. Author names are given as first initial(s) and last name (e.g., J. Smith, M. J. Jones). Basic format—include relevant or available information: Examples: Journal article retrieved from the internet Book (print) with multiple authors |
APA
American Psychological Association (APA) style was developed for use in the social and behavioral sciences, but is often used in other scientific fields, including engineering and engineering education.
| In-text citations | Sources are indicated in line with author’s name (last name only) and date of publication.
Publication date is presented only as year. If there is no known publication date (common in online sources), the date is replaced with “n.d.” NOT the retrieval date (that is provided only in the References list). Examples: |
|---|---|
| List of sources | A list titled “References” is placed after the main text of the document.
Sources are presented in alphabetical order based on the start of the entry (typically the author or source name—whichever was used to identify the source in the in-text citation); use hanging indent. Article titles are in plain text (without quotation marks); book/journal titles are in italics. Author names are given as last name followed by first initial(s) (e.g., Smith, J., or Jones, M.J.). Basic format: Examples: Journal articles retrieved from the internet Jones, M.J. (2014). Contradictions in technical documentation. Journal of Made Up Things, 4(2). Retrieved from http://[fullURL] Book (print) with multiple authors |
Key Takeaways
- Cite all sources that are not your original work.
- Use the recommended style for citations, if provided. If not, choose a style you are comfortable with.
