Citations and reference lists may not be one of those first tasks students eagerly seize upon in their assignments. Which is curious, since they add value on many levels. It can be a signal of carelessness when one reads a paper that uses too few references, too many, or presents them in unsophisticated formats.

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It is useful to review why citations are valuable, what standard you might prefer and the reasons for it, and why moderate use of them can enhance your writing and reputation.

Student of the Game

A well constructed reference list conveys tone beyond simply the proper acknowledgement of the sources you use. Rather, appropriate and targeted references that call out some of the seminal papers closely related to your topic demonstrate that you “know the industry.” Too few references may imply you have not widely read the previous work in your field, and in fact raises the spectre that you may be covering ground already well trod by others. Too many references may imply one is shotgunning in desperation, hoping to cover one’s limited new contributions in a field with walls of parentheses. There is a happy medium. By acknowledging and understanding the prior work, you signal that you recognize precisely where others have explored the map, and where your research fits neatly into the overall mosaic, to add to the frontier of knowledge.

Sloppy reference formats – for example, simply listing a URL – exposes one as a bit lazy and uninterested in the proper construction of their own work. If authors are not motivated to construct their paper properly, why should readers be motivated to read it? Thus, appropriate use and structure of references signals expertise and motivation.

Paying Homage

“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

Newton did well to be modest, and if someone of his stature did so, then that is a guidepost for the rest of us that may fall short of that level of brilliance. If you have followed someone’s related research with interest, appreciate their contributions, and find their work especially relevant to the topic at hand, then strive to find ways to weave a reference to them into your work. Especially if they are someone you may encounter at conferences or other events in the industry. I frequently run across people in my field that deserve a personal compliment, by saying that we appreciate and have cited their work on power plant tests, chemical treatment systems, thermodynamic analysis, or other topics in a specific renewable energy niche. They are usually surprised that anyone has read it and they brighten right up when we mention it. It can be a good LinkedIn icebreaker.

Unlike academia, where publications become one’s main focus, many tend to forget that for people in the private industrial sector, taking the effort to publish data from actual plant experience in papers in the public domain can be:

a) unprofitable for either the individual or the company
b) difficult to make public due to privacy concerns
c) generally unacknowledged for advancement
d) quite useful to others in the field, as a citable “sanity check” on theoretical or confidential work

Thus we truly value it when someone takes the time to write about a topic related to our industry, offering some real world insight on overcoming challenges. It is effective marketing if you can converse with potential employers or mentors about their papers, demonstrating both your technical perspective of their field and a personal interest. Natural bonding agents.

Suitable Citation Formats

In many cases journals, conference papers, or government reports may require a specific format. Those cases your decision on format is easy. However, you may have the latitude to offer something of your choice when preparing a study. It is useful to choose your own personal standard and exercise with it so thoroughly one can compose it correctly with little effort. There are numerous tools online or in Microsoft Word that can assist one in building citations, but once you choose  your standard, with some small effort you can get into a rhythm with it such that little help is required.

Let’s discuss a few citation styles.

IEEE: [1]

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers citation format is tidy and compact, but fails to accomplish several of the objectives that one should have, compared to other formats. It also can be more difficult to manage, if one’s document software does not automatically renumber citations if you insert one in the middle of a document. Yes, a lot of software does, but it would not be the first time in the history of the world if Word failed to provide auto-fixes for our laziness, as anyone that has seen Error! Reference source not found in a pdf file can attest.

APA: e.g (Smith, 2017)

The American Psychological Association style is appealing since it:
a) does not require renumbering of the references when another is inserted, and
b) acknowledges the author of the previous work in-text.

Mentioning the name is more recognizable to readers, so they can recognize seminal papers and consciously or subconsciously link you with their greatness. This citation style also loads your document with “shout-outs” to the people in your industry, rather than burying their names in the reference list at the end. The only downside is that it is more often used in the social sciences, rather than the science sciences, so I prefer instead:

CSE: e.g. (Smith 2017)

The Council of Science Editors name-year system is similar to APA, so it seems appealing for the same reason. CSE is naturally more focused with the “hard” sciences, so it seems an engineer would choose them over APA or other liberal art types like MLA. CSE does have citation-name or citation-sequence systems, using superscripts, but those lack the benefits of the name-year system, so I don’t find them as appealing.

Summary

The real lesson is to choose your system for valid reasons and to stick with it as your standard, unless you have a particular constraint. Recognize the broader purposes citations serve in addition to preserving your academic integrity, which is the most critical function.

It is useful to bookmark a few guides on citation styles if a refresher is needed, and a good Badger-based citation style guide can be found here.