How to choose the right citation style for your writing.

Writing your first academic paper can be intimidating. Finding a topic and defining a thesis is the first step to starting your work. The next step is thorough research. This is where you should define which citation style you will use for your writing. It might sound as if this is too early in the process, but ideally, you’ll collect essays, quotes, arguments, and everything else that’s useful for your own academic writing in some sort of document to have it ready when you want to cite it in your writing. By choosing the right citation style early on, you can build your bibliography for your work during your research and prepare your list in the right citation style already, saving yourself a lot of work in the process!

In our article, we’ll familiarise you with the most popular citation styles and show you how Adobe Express can help you keep track of the most important research results.

What are citation styles?

Citation styles are crucial in the academic world. There is no paper that doesn’t cite research results, arguments, or quotes from other academic essays. It’s the golden rule of academia to cite them in a correct way to avoid plagiarism. Citation styles are standardised formats for referencing sources in written work. These styles define how to quote in-text, how to structure footnotes, how to list references and what your bibliography should look like. There are many different citation styles out there. To define which citation style is the right one for your academic work depends on the scientific field you’re working in, your institution, or the publisher you’re working with. Choosing the right citation style is crucial to ensure consistency in your writing and enhance the readability and professionalism of your work.

Finding the right citation style for your writing.

If you’re not sure which citation style is right for your academic work, you can always ask your professor, lecturer, institution, or university. Make sure to clear up this question before starting your writing.

You can use citation tools that easily generate the right citation for your work. Many tools also allow you to change the citation style with one click. However, you should always double-check when proofreading your essay that everything is in the right place and that every citation, whether in-text or by footnote, is noted.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver: Overview of the most popular citation styles.

There are many citation styles around, with different approaches on how to cite and which part is focused on when citing an academic work. Citation styles also define how to format the reference list or the bibliography entries. In general, there are three different basic approaches:

• Note citations: Use a superscript number or symbol in your text when indicating a citation. Include the full citation in the footnote or endnote.
• Parenthetical citations: Use identifying details to your source such as the author’s name, publication, and page number in parentheses.
• Numerical citations: Use a superscript number or a number in brackets corresponding to an entry in your reference list.

Which citation approach is used, depends on your discipline. Some disciplines require a closer focus on authors, other disciplines are centred around publication names and dates. Here’s an overview of the most popular citation styles used in academia.

1. APA: This citation style is primarily used in disciplines such as psychology, education, and social sciences. In-text citations include the author’s last name and year of publication. The reference list is arranged alphabetically by author.
   Example for in-text citations: (Smith, 2023) or (Smith, 2023, p. 20)
   Example for the reference list: Smith, J. (2023). How to cite in academic works. Example publisher.
2. Harvard: This style is commonly used in humanities, business, and social sciences. It works similarly to the APA citation style but lists the publication place in the reference list as well.
   Example for in-text citations: (Smith, 2023)
   Example for the reference list: Smith, J. (2023) How to cite in academic works. 2nd edition. London: Example publisher.
3. Vancouver: This citation style is mainly used in medicine. In this case, in-text citations use numbers that reference a numbered bibliography list. Thus, the text is not filled with numerous citations in-text.
   Example for in-text citations: (1, p. 20)
   Example for the reference list: 1. Smith, J. How to cite in academic works. London: Example publisher; 2023.
4. MLA: This style is close to the APA style with minor differences. In-text citations list the author’s name and the cited pages.
   Example for in-text citations: (Smith 20-22)
   Example for the reference list: John Smith. How to cite in academic works. Example publisher, 2023, London.

Citation style tools for your writing.

Keeping track of your sources and citing them correctly can be challenging. Especially if you’re working on your paper for a longer time, you sometimes miss details and errors occur. This is completely normal when concentrating on the content of your paper and being in the flow of writing. To avoid this, tools can help and support you, allowing you to fully concentrate on the structure and argumentation in your paper. There are several tools for different tasks:

• Citation generator: A citation generator helps you to correctly cite your sources in the right citation style. Simply select the citation style you want to use and fill in the details of your used publication. The tool will do everything else for you.
• Citation checking: Ready for a final check of your citations? With a citation-checking tool, you can make sure that all your sources are cited correctly whether it’s in-text citations or your reference list.
• Plagiarism checker: There’s always a chance you might have forgotten to mark parts of your paper as citations. To be on the safe side, check if parts of your paper are detected as plagiarism. If yes, add a reference or a citation to mark it correctly.

Keep track of your research with Adobe Express.

Researching for your paper is the groundwork for the structure and your argumentation in your academic work. Therefore, it’s necessary to keep track of the results of your research and document quotes, important arguments for and against your thesis, and other details that can be helpful for your work. To have an overview of your thesis structure, you should work in a document, a one-pager, for example, where you can build the structure from introduction to thesis and arguments to results. It helps to keep your thoughts and ideas for your paper in order. With Adobe Express, you can create a research report to structure your paper.

1. Open Adobe Express and log in.
2. Browse for research templates and choose a template that suits your research project.
3. Click “Customise templates” to adjust the template to your needs.
4. Add elements such as shapes and icons to structure your template.
5. If you want to add specific research results, add charts. You can choose from different chart types such as bar charts, line charts, or pie charts. Customise them with colours, fonts, and item names to adjust them to your results.
6. Structure references with tables. Adjust them to your needs and customise them with colours, fonts, and font styles.
7. If you’re happy with your research report, you can either download and print it or keep it online in your Adobe Express projects to update it while you’re doing further research.

You can also create a research presentation with Adobe Express. Browse our professionally designed research presentation templates and customise them for your project.

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Good to know.

What are the most popular citation styles?

The most popular citation styles for academic papers are Harvard, Vancouver, APA (American Psychological Association), and MLA (Modern Language Association). To choose the right citation style for your academic writing, it’s recommended to ask your institution or your professor, as different scientific disciplines require different citation styles.

What is an example of the Harvard citation style?

The Harvard citation style is mainly used in the humanities, business, and social sciences. It’s quite similar to the popular APA style. However, it additionally lists the publication place in the reference list. In-text citations in the Harvard citation style are marked with “(Smith, 2023)”. In the reference list, the source will be listed as “Smith, J. (2023) How to cite in academic works. 2^nd edition. London: Example publisher.”.

What is an example of an APA citation style?

The APA citation style is commonly used in disciplines such as psychology, education, and social sciences. In-text citations include the author’s last name and year of publication: “(Smith, 2023)” or “(Smith, 2023, p. 20)”. In the reference list, all sources are arranged alphabetically by author and are listed in the following structure: “Smith, J. (2023). How to cite in academic works. Example publisher.”

Can I use Adobe Express for free?

Yes, you can use Adobe Express for free. With the free version, you can access a wide variety of features, tools, and resources. Browse through thousands of free templates for various design projects. Use basic photo, text, video, and layout editing tools. You also get access to a selection of free stock photos, icons, and design elements. If you like to use premium templates, brand management tools, and additional cloud storage, you can always upgrade to a paid plan.