Methodology: Academic and Technical Writing

Citing and referencing is essential when writing an academic piece, be it a book chapter, a monograph, a journal article, a review, and so on. These two are different, but closely linked concepts; they go together. A citation always requires a reference.

To cite an author is to name or mention the author as producer or conveyor of some ideas that we are reproducing in our text, be it in a direct quotation manner or indirectly.

To reference a work is to provide full details about the work, including the following basics (which are standardized in all citing and referencing styles): author (either by full name or by last name and initials), year of publication, title, place of publishing, and publisher. This is the traditional format and it applies to conventional texts, such as journal articles, books, book chapters, and other outputs. Nowadays, it also applies to online-published pieces, for example news stories, blog posts, social network threads or comments, photos, Youtube clips, podcasts, and so on.