Using Citations
Dr. Albert H. Carlson
Part Time Associate Professor
College of Business, Engineering, and Technology
National University
July 13, 2025
1 Introduction
Writing a formal or academic paper, a conference paper, article, white paper, or
technical paper can be a daunting assignment or task. There are rules concern-
ing the content and how the content is supported if the content is to be believed
by a critical reader. Every respected and believable organization, publication,
and conference establishes confidence by referencing an authoritative, reviewed
source of some type to confirm the veracity of the information, assertion, or to
allow the reader to go to the source for complete details that are summarized
by the author. This methodology is known as citing, or citation.
Citations are a way to direct the reader to another source with in-depth de-
tails on a subject, as well as to make sure that source of the information receives
proper credit for their work. Every researcher deserves credit for what they have
discovered. Claiming credit for another persons work is plagiarism [1], a viola-
tion of academic integrity that is just as serious as cheating on an assignment
or test. Penalties for plagiarism vary from failing grades and community service
to loss of jobs [2], fines, and jail time [3].
Unfortunately, many students are unfamiliar with the citation procedure.
It is incumbent on all students to learn the techniques and practices of citing
sources in papers. Graduate students and researchers, in particular, must de-
velop their abilities in this area. This paper is an introduction to the concepts
and practices of citing sources in papers.
2 When Do I Cite Something?
The first step in citing is to know what needs to be cited. There are some easy
guidelines for what you should cite in a paper. The list that follows concentrates
on the general questions that should be asked of the information being written.
Cite the information source
1. When quoting someone, even yourself - If the information requires quota-
tion marks because you are copying the data from another source, includ-
ing your own material from another paper, conference, etc., then it MUST
be cited. Direct quotes mean that you are relying on another person to
make your point. A special case of this situation occurs when you site
yourself. If it possible to commit self plagiarism and steal the material
from yourself. This action is as serious as plagiarizing from some other
person and is subject to the same penalties and punishment as plagiarizing
someone else.
2. When summarizing someones source - Even if you do not use a direct
quote from a source, but summarize the material, it also MUST be cited.
Changing a word or phrase here and there is not sufficient to make that
information your own. Even a loose summary of the material triggers
the need for citation. Do not get caught in the trap of assuming that
summarizing changes the requirements. All it does is change the form of
the information, not the source or content. You are still borrowing the
source information and the source of that information requires credit for
creating it. Borrowing it without attribution is the form of fraud known
as plagiarism.
3. When making an unproven (in the paper) assertion - Assertions made in
a paper must be either proven in the paper (you provide a proof) or they
must be supported by citation to someone who has published or spoken
on the topic in a conference or some other venue. The simple rule is all
assertions must be proven or cited. When writing a paper always consider
what you are asserting that the reader must accept. That is an assertion.
4. When mentioning standards, protocols, etc. - Many times papers use
information derived from laws, standards, protocols, and collections of
information that are published and accepted as authoritative. The content
of each of these collections of rules and practices is often very large and
detailed. Whenever such a body of data that is generally available is
introduced for the first time it must be cited. It is very likely that the
reader may need to refer to that body of information to fill in details to
understand the content of the paper. Therefore, it requires attribution
through citation.
5. When mentioning products and companies - When products and compa-
nies are first mentioned, they should also be cited. This allows the reader
to go and find information needed to complete the understanding of the
reader on a particular subject, just as citing standards and protocols.
These rules tell when something must be cited. The biggest issue in citations is
not citing information when it should be cited. In general, when in doubt, cite
the information. It is possible to over cite a paper, but that generally is not an
issue. Following the preceding rules will take care of almost all of the problems
with citation.
There are also rules about citing oneself (self-citation). Do not cite your
own material if it is possible to cite someone else. Self-citation is sometimes
necessary, though. If a researcher is the only source, it is acceptable, but still
frowned upon. The more self-citations used, the less believable the information
in the paper.
3 Hierarchy of Citations
Not all citations, however, are created equally. Some citations carry more weight
than others. This fact leads to a tiered hierarchy of believability in citations.
When citing, the author should seek for the most believable and authoritative
sources. The author can be just as important as the vehicle for the citation.
That means that the reputation of the author is important, as is where the
citation originates. If the author is an acknowledged expert, that is better than
an unknown researcher. Also, the extent that a source is checked comes into play.
Publications receive various levels of checking and verification. Books, journals,
and peer-reviewed conferences all have experts that check into the content of
their publications and verify that the information is correct. For these reasons,
those particular sources are considered more trustworthy, or authoritative. Print
sources, which are more easily verified, are also considered more authoritative
than spoken words. An author should try to use the most authoritative source
available. In terms of “goodness” and believability, the preference of the sources
for citation are
1. Books - These typically consist of textbooks and non-fiction books where
factual review occurs. Next come the creations of authors when quoting
the author.
2. Laws/Legal Statutes, protocols, and standards - These are statements of
accepted practice and are typically created and verified by acknowledged
experts in the field.
3. Journal Papers - These publications often represent the best thinking in
a field. Experts often publish in journals and their content is usually
peer reviewed by other experts. There is also a ranking in these sources
that has to do with the “impact factor” [4] assigned to the publication.
There are arguments over the validity of the methods used to calculate
the impact factor, but it does provide a relative ranking. The higher the
impact factor of the publication, the more authoritative and believable
the content.
4. Conferences - Each year there are many conferences held to share recent
discoveries and research in various fields. Many of the conferences are peer
reviewed so that the content is of high quality. Although there is not as
much time to check all of the information as opposed to the longer cycle
journal reviews, most conferences have a staff of technical experts (subject
matter experts, or SMEs) that are familiar with the field and literature in
the field. Conferences are rated using an impact factor rating system in
the same manner as journals.
5. White Papers/Technical Papers - Many organizations have explanations
of products, services, and the science on which they rely for their produces.
By producing these papers and making they available to the public (in-
cluding customers), the organization establishes its expertise in a field and
can easily provide the data to customers. By providing these papers, the
organization does not have to waste time explaining the subject over and
over on demand. Called “white papers” or technical papers, these pub-
lications are not typically reviewed outside the company or organization
and can contain biases and inaccuracies.
6. Magazines/Newspaper Articles (popular press) - Often used to establish
when events occur, articles in newspapers and magazines can be cited.
While there is some review of the facts used in research, this review is
light and often conducted by editorial staff rather than experts in the
field. Details on the subject are often missing or only lightly treated,
often making it a less authoritative source.
7. Online/Electronic - The advent of the internet has allowed for a great
deal of information to be accessible. Much of that information is not
found in other formats or repositories. Online periodicals, organizations,
and commercial sites can often be used as sources for citations. There is
very little verification done on these types of sites and they are very low
on the scale of citations.
8. Personal Correspondence/Conversations - Lowest on the scale of citation
sources is that of private correspondence and discussions. There is no way
to substantiate the content unless others in attest to hearing or reading
the document.
Even within the various categories of sources, there is also a hierarchy of
belief and acceptance. Normally this is evaluated in terms of the impact factor
for the publication or the conference. The impact factor ranks how good the
source is by how often the information is accepted and selected by other users
and authors for use in citations. Normally the impact factor covers a period of
time of approximately two years. There is some variation on how the impact
factor is calculated [5], but the same approach is used by most calculation sites.
Let y be the present year. Impact factor is defined by
|citationsy |
IFy = (1)
|P ublicationsy−1 | + |P ublicationsy−2 |
The higher the impact factor the more authoritative the source. Citations from
higher impact factor publications or conferences are preferred.
When making a citation there are two basic strategies that are requested by
publishers and conferences. The first is to quote the seminal, or original, work
in which the idea was proposed. If there are improvements over the seminal
work, then the work the proposes the improvements is cited.
The second approach requested is to prefer “recent” works. Typically recent
refers to citations created in the preceding five years. If there are no recent
citations, then the latest possible works are preferred. Authors should refer to
the instructions for authors to determine which approach to use in citations.
4 How Do I Cite Something
Knowing when to cite is just one part of the citation equation. Another part
of the citation process is knowing how to do the citation in the paper. Unfor-
tunately, many major organizations have their own method of doing citations.
Each has their own format and rules for putting them in the papers. There are
a few general principles that span all of the styles and formats.
A citation should be made the first time a concept or idea is used. The
citation only needs to be done a single time for that idea. However, any time a
quote is put into a paper or when a new idea or assertion comes from the same
paper, it must again be cited.
Each citation is noted when it is used. Some indication, in the format
specified by the style, is made adjacent to the item the citation supports. That
is, right after a quote, adjacent to the name of the protocol, or next to the
assertion. For example, in MLA [6] the reference is as shown, inline to the cite.
This number corresponds to the entry in the reference section found at the end
of the work. All citations are segregated to a Reference or Works Cited following
the body of the paper. This allows the reader to find the citation and be able
to go back to the original source, if desired.
The references at the end of a paper can be listed in one of two ways:
alphabetically or as first referenced. Again, the method of listing references
is normally specified by the publisher or the conference organizer. Follow the
rules for the specified style when doing the references. One interesting issue
that arises comes with a style like APA [7] or Chicago style [8]. In these cases
the reference is keyed to the author and year the publication took place, such as
(Carlson, 2025). Sometimes an author publishes several times in the same year.
As a result, there must be an addition in order to distinguish one reference from
another. In that case, add a letter starting with ‘a’ after the year and increment
by one letter at a time for each new citation, as in (Carlson, 2025a).
5 Citation Formatting and Layout
The remaining implementation details for citations is dependent on the par-
ticular style selected. There are several different styles standardized by the
same number of different research organizations. Each style is used by a major
research organization in its own field. Data in the citation is customized for
researchers in that field. Many researchers choose to study subjects that cross
the boundaries of more than one field, so it is necessary to know what style
standards exist, who they belong to, and where to find the details for those
styles. The major styles, and their sponsoring organizations are as follows:
• ACS - American Chemical Society. This style is designed for scientific
papers and research, especially in the field of chemistry. A printed guide
is available [9] and online instructions are also available [10].
• AMA - American Medical Association. Used by medical researchers to
study and report advances in that field. [11]
• APA - American Psychological Association [7].
• ASA - American Sociological Association [12].
• Chicago - The University of Chicago [8]. Widely used in humanities pa-
pers.
• CSE - Council of Science Editors [13].
• MLA - Modern Language Association. This style is widely used in engi-
neering and for IEEE [14] research, including computer science. [6]
• Turabian - Same as the Chicago style [8].
Many universities maintain sites that summarize citation rules and styles.
These organizations realize that different departments in their schools use the
various styles. A good place to see the differences are at those sites. Check
online using a standard search engine to find a site that you is easy for you to
use/
Most book publishers, journals, magazines, conferences, and academic orga-
nizations have their own style templates. The best way to determine what style
and templates are available is to go to the site for the publisher or conference.
On these sites there are details about what programs should be used to prepare
papers and often there will be a link to the needed template. Many scientific
papers now require the use of special programs, such as Latex [15], that are
designed to make the presentation of equations, figures, and tables, easy and in
a standard form. Fortunately, these programs simplify the typesetting required
in order to quickly produce high quality papers.
Unfortunately, these tools do not ensure quality. That task is left to the
author. There is a lot of leeway accorded the author of a paper. With respect
to making citations, online references to the citations can be made a number of
ways. The first is to give the lead authors name, as in “Carlson states ” followed
by the inline connector, such as (Carlson, 2025). Another common way to treat
the connector is to use the connect as in “(Carlson, 2025) states ...” In this
form of citing the reference does not require giving the author again. If there
are many authors, then using the connector, ”Carlson, et al” followed by the
inline connectors works well. All of these are acceptable ways to cite a work.
However, authors feel that mixing the style of inline citations is acceptable. It
is best to select one of the methods and then be consistent in using that form
throughout the book or paper. Pick one method and then stick with it.
6 Good Places to Find Citations
Using citations requires the author to be able to find the necessary, highest
quality sources. To find these sources, look where they are likely to be found.
A short list of these sources follows.
• Library Catalogs - The largest and most complete repositories of these
works are libraries. Whether in person or online, all libraries have lists
of their holdings and summaries of the content of the works. All of the
needed information on those volumes and journals can be easily searched
and recorded.
• Book sellers (such as [Link]) - Vendors typically carry summaries
and relevant data about the works they sell. Amazon also carries search-
able content that allows previewing works to assess the relevance of the
data contained in the work.
• Research sites - Academia uses a number of libraries of conference papers
and research papers that are located online. Libraries and book sellers
concentrate on cataloging books, while these sites specialize in character-
izing papers. The sites also give statistics on how often those papers are
cited. In addition to the statistics the data is often organized according
the author that wrote them. Researchers tend to stay withe the same,
or similar, topics. Therefore, when a relevant paper is identified, other
similar studies may be found by looking at the other papers produced by
the same author(s). Three important examples of this type of site are
[Link] [16], Google Scholar [17], and Semantic Scholar [18].
• Online searches - When searching for new citations, online searches using
keywords can also be very effective. However, when potential sources are
located, the author needs to go to those papers and read the potential
material to determine if the content is suitable, says what the author
wants to cite, and determine the suitability of the source.
7 Useful Software
Once an appropriate and useful source is found, it should be kept in a library
of sources. The nature of citations is that they can be lost if not actively
cataloged. One major professor described the problem with finding a source
and not recording it as later remembering the “perfect” citation, returning to
look for it, and never finding it again. The best researchers make copies of the
sources and keep them available for later use.
There are a number of programs that are available and free for use to help
researchers and authors write and cite their papers effectively. One of the main
programs for creating papers, books, and conference materials is Latex [15,
19]. First suggested in the late 1970’s by Knuth, this typesetting program has
grown to become the standard language for submitting works to IEEE and
other scientific/engineering conferences and journals. Use of Latex is free, but
the interfaces to Latex may have a charge. One that is nominally free, unless
add on features are purchased, is Overleaf [20]. Overleaf is a collaborative site
that allows multiple authors to work on the same paper simultaneously. Output
is in the form of .pdf files and has many features that facilitate writing. For a
nominal monthly/annual fee many more features are available.
Latex uses a related program, called Bibtex [21] to handle its citation library
and to create the reference section of papers and books. Bibtex is the program
that handles a database of citations, formats them for Latex use. From a large
database it selects the cited material and appends it to the document in the
correct place, selected by the user. Any unused citations are ignored and do not
appear. With the proper instructions in the Latex document, the references will
be properly formatted and contain the correct information for the style selected
for the paper or book. Citations are placed in the correct order, as well.
The database of citations can be accomplished using the free program known
as Jabref [22]. This program provides templates for the different types of ci-
tations that can be created in Latex and allows for cataloging the various ref-
erences. Different databases can also be created in order to customize the re-
sources for different uses. The library/database can also be shared with other
researchers, as needed, to speed the creation of documents and to spread re-
search efforts.
8 Conclusion
This document is a quick tutorial on citations, how to use them, when to use
them, and introduces some useful, free tools. By employing this data papers will
be better formatted, will meet documentation requirements, avoid plagiarism,
and have increased quality.
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