I. Introduction
In the process of dissertation writing, accurate and standardised literature citation is an essential part. It not only represents the respect for the previous research results, but also the embodiment of academic rigour. Through correct literature citation, we can enhance the credibility of the article, supplement the relevant knowledge gaps, and then improve the quality of the whole thesis. However, for users who are new to thesis writing, the differences in various citation formats may lead to difficulties in understanding, so this paper aims to systematically introduce several common citation formats (such as Harvard style, American Psychological Association style, Modern Language Association style and Chicago style, etc.), and give practical guidelines to help users make better use of them.
Harvard style
In the Harvard style, literature citation mainly contains the following elements: the author’s name, title, year of publication, place of publication and book title. For example, so that the author A in the Title of Book in the view C, should be written in italics, the title of the book, with lowercase letters mark the view where the chapter page number. Its specific form can be referred to the following example:
Example:
AA, XXXX. (XXXX). Title of Book [Title Italics], City: Publisher, Year, page of citation.
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CC (original citation)
American Psychological Association Style
The American Psychological Association Style (APA Style) is more standardised in comparison, with relatively uniform citation rules. The citation consists of six elements: author’s name, year of publication, title of article, journal name, and volume and page number. Document citations follow a fixed format. Please refer to the following example:
Example:
Author A, B, C. (Year of publication). Title of article. Journal name, Volume, page(s).
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Citation
Modern Language Association Style
Modern Language Association Style (MLA Style) pays more attention to the overall layout of the layout, article citation only need to mark the citation in the text. The format requires an explanation of emerging words or terms, with a blank line after the new paragraph. References need to include the author’s name, the year of publication and book title, and in parentheses with the corresponding digital number. For example, if the author published a book called BB in a particular year, and the first page of its Chapter 9 refers to information called CC, the reference for that text might be expressed as follows:
Author’s name (year of publication) . Name of book . Chapter . Number of pages of information
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Literature cited at [chapter name], book name [book title], number of pages (if any italicised year to be written)
V. Application Scenarios and Precautions
No matter what kind of citation, the principle of uniform formatting throughout the manuscript should be adhered to. In addition, the list of references should also be echoed in the body of the citation, and to ensure the authenticity and reliability of the cited sources, the words of inaccuracies should be strictly verified.
Sixth, special circumstances
For example, if more than one author co-authored the article CC, but one of the authors is not the page owner, they can use Harvard style and APA style, the use of “&” symbols in the citation or the first list of authors who are not the page owner, and then add the word such as. In this way, the joint authorship can be clearly presented.
seven, citing examples of analysis
This article to APA Style example, explains how to cite the page information. For example, in XXX year XX month XX day logged in the web page named EE website, access to the page theme for the FF, the citation format can be described as follows:
Author’s name, Date. Title or subject of the online article, address of the website, time of access.
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