35 Academic Writing: Language, Presentation and Citation

C. Naga Lakshmi

Objective

In this module you will learn about academic writing, presentation and some citation formats. Some links and different internet based resources, references are provided at the end of the document.

Introduction

Academic writing is an art and a discipline. As much as it is creative, it requires practice and knowing the stringent rules and regulations to write. Academic language, presentation and citation form the core elements for writing research articles, books, dissertations and thesis in any discipline. In general, academic writing is a challenge but can be mastered over time and with dedication to it. It is a challenge because the process of writing is creative, but its basis is rigorous research which is based on field work and data.

Academic writing is impersonal and precise, involves describing and re-describing views by an author, as well as shaping, and reshaping of ideas and concepts within a discipline or subject matter under study. It is a creative process because one has to produce/create, recreate knowledge about the world, from the existing knowledge. This process is possible through the use of concepts, associating or re-associating them only to offer a new perspective and analysis. It is technical, using complex terminology with precise referencing and footnoting system. The level of complexity in academic writing varies and authors can choose the use of technical knowledge depending on the medium of publication and its audience.

According to Bailey (2006: 3), the reasons for an author to choose academic writing can include:

“to report on a piece of research the writer has conducted
to answer a question the writer has been given or chosen
to discuss a subject of common interest and give the writer’s view
to synthesise research done by others on a topic”.

Depending on the reasons for writing an academic article, the types of academic writing also varies. The types are, a dissertation or thesis for doctoral work, a research article for a scientific journal publishing, a conference paper to be presented to a live audience, a report for a research project, a book, article in an edited volume, a book review and literature review for either general public as audience or for the specialists/experts in a chosen subject. Some academic presentations include posters also.

2.1. Learning Outcome

This module would acquaint you with aspects of academic writing for sociological research with the qualitative and quantitative methods. It will also provide an introduction to the more important resources useful for academic presentation and citation.

Planning for Academic Writing

Research work precedes the planning, writing, editing and reviewing activities, which are the general phases for writing. Research in the form of fieldwork and data collection is the starting point for writing, followed by the phases of planning, writing and editing. They may or may not occur in any fixed order, depending on the author’s working style. Initially more time is spent on thinking and planning for actual writing and editing and reviewing happens later. The writers’ clarity of thought and their personal preferences shape this process.

Critical thinking is one important requirement for academic writing process. Authors must inculcate critical thinking while reading and reviewing the existing knowledge (in the form of books, studies, research papers, journal articles, theses/dissertations) about a chosen research theme or area of research. One should not read just as passive audience, but with an active sense of questioning and assessing the adequacy of an argument presented in the literature. This is guided by a grasp of the key ideas in the literature, the arguments, debates, structure and logic of the literature reviewed. Other aspects include presentation of evidence through data, examples and their sources, the reliability of the data and evidence of the phenomena studied, the quality of generalisations, with similarities and dissimilarities among various other studies. This is followed by the actual writing process.

The Writing Process

Earlier or prior to the advent of computers and software, authors/writers had to maintain manuscripts of their writing and keep track of content. But word-processing has made the task of writing easier to manage drafts.

There are four essential stages in the process of actual writing process. These are:

The thinking and preparing stage – pre-writing: This stage starts when the research and data gathering ends. It involves generating ideas, making notes and outlines of draft, and brainstorming, outlining the contents and identifying the required information on formats for publishing. Setting the objectives for writing the paper or article is important to guide author to the next steps.
Actual Writing and keyboarding stage – drafting: This stage involves converting ideas into words, sentences and further into paragraphs. This is a free-writing stage where the sequence or order of sections written, is flexible. Authors follow a perspective and answering the research question with the research based evidence which is of primary importance.
Re-drafting stage – Revising: This stage can be called as the tuning stage. The draft after free-writing is refined, considering the audience for whom the draft is being written. Phrases, sentences and sub-sections are checked for logic and structure, the research question, concepts and the association with data, refinement in the perspective and presentation itself is thoroughly revised.
Language and proof-checking stage – Editing: Proof reading involves a complete and comprehensive checking for grammar, the ‘tense’ and voice of the author in the content. Issues like citation and referencing, font and its size, use of syntax, paragraph etc., also matter in this stage. The draft can be sent to a language specialist, for a check on consistency, grammar, spelling and continuity of the theme. Otherwise, one can even opt to choose reviewing with a word processor like MS Word, and can check the grammar and spelling but a language specialist can definitely help in making the final draft more accurate and presentable.

Objectivity and precision are the primary factors that differentiate academic writing from other forms of writing. To achieve objectivity, academic writing begins with the choice of a research problem and a question. It is followed by definitions and use of concepts, developing an argument and discussion, following a logic and structure, data collection and analysis with some cause and effect, cohesion in content and generalisations arrived at using the data collected and analysis, acknowledging sources through referencing and citations. The writing process and the end-product actually depend on the personal style of the author, inclusion of graphic presentations such as tables, charts, figures, visuals, examples and illustrations in content, footnotes and/end notes etc., to make it more interesting.

Academic writing in the field of Sociology is similar to the above and requires a certain set of skills, orientation. Building knowledge in this discipline requires following some basic principles of ‘Sociological Imagination’ (Sociology writing group 2001: 7-8) and locating the problem under consideration for research in a social context. There is a need for the author to view the social realm in an objective manner and yet be a part of it. The steps to follow can be in the sequence – framing a question, developing an argument or debate on the theme/topic/area with a logic and structure, editing and formatting and acknowledging sources.

The first step of framing an interesting sociological question requires a perspective, adopting a way of thinking about a research topic/theme/subject. Further, a survey of existing literature is undertaken and a study is conducted, with evidence in the form of data is collected, through a research design and specific methodology (detailed research methods are available in the previous modules). The focus is however on the evidence as well as in answering the question appropriately and within the perspective, and building/developing an argument. Logic and structure are central to developing the argument while writing. According to the Sociology writing group, ‘logic refers to the relationship between the paper’s assertions and its evidence. Structure concerns how the parts of the paper fit together’ (2001:17).

In dealing with the logic and structure while writing, keeping in mind the research question, there is a need to consider various angles of the problem in focus. Every research question can be answered from different points of view. But the available evidence and the reasoning guide an author to complete the writing. The structure of the writing is determined by accumulating sentences and paragraphs, centred on the research theme. Associated concepts/aspects, at the same time, maintain the linkages between evidence and research theme. In this context, it is pertinent to discuss the research methods, design and the structure of writing.

Academic Writing and Research Methods

The format and style of academic writing following either quantitative or qualitative techniques of research and even mixed methods often differ widely. This is because these three differ in terms of their research design, tools and techniques of data collection and approaches to analysis of the collected data. The approach to writing also differs in all three methods. The disclosure of the details of research findings as well as analysis of data in the text of the report is not done in the same way in both quantitative and qualitative research. A diligent researcher discerningly uses a specific method to suit the research in focus with an eye for detail and to present the study and its contribution to sociological knowledge in an interesting way to readers. A mix of secondary and primary data, prudence in use of quotations from respondent interviews and other studies appropriately is a hallmark of creativity of the authors. We therefore need to know the different styles and formats of academic writing of both quantitative and qualitative research.

5.1. Quantitative Methods and Academic Writing

According to Alan Bryman (2012), the structure of an academic article using quantitative method findings can be as follows:

Introduction
Theory
Data
Measurement
Methods and Models
Results
Conclusion

The introductory section establishes the focus of the article/paper, the issue or area/topic/theme, and situates the same within the existing literature and the contribution it tries to make to the area of focus. The theory section sets out to present the concepts that are in use within the theoretical framework/s mentioned and arrive at a hypothesis (as required by study) to establish connect among the concepts. On this basis clear research questions are formulated, to be answered, with aims and objectives drawn from the research question.

Data section is where the authors present the numerical data they drew on for their research, and the data sets and sampling techniques are outlined along with sample sizes and response rates for the tools such as questionnaires and interviews. The software or package used for processing data is mentioned and the time taken for data collection has to be mentioned in this section. Measurement is the next related section, where the collected data is measured with appropriate units, the individual characteristics and attributes, the variables are described. Methods and models is the next section where the interrelationship among variables is conceptualised. This can be done at various levels like univariate with one variable, bivariate – two variables, and multivariate – many variables, using statistical analysis. The model also presents how the variables are linked in terms of direction, proportion and correlation.

Results are discussed in a different section with an analysis of whether the hypothesis presented is proved/supported or not and how the variables have varied or structured relationships. A more general description of the findings and how the differences and the context in which the variables operated in the study are significant is discussed. Tables, graphs and graphics are used to describe the above and the model in consideration is analysed thoroughly in this section. Conclusion is a key section where the findings are integrated into the larger context; issues at hand are discussed in the light of the literature presented in the introductory section. The answers to the research question are reckoned with specific reference to the aims and objectives. Confirmation or rejection of the hypothesis, implications of the findings to the theory and models referred to and inferences drawn from the findings and inter-variable relationships are presented. Limitations of the study (if any) are discussed and future research on the same theme/area is also included in the last part of this section.

Writing up a quantitative study requires a steady focus on the questions and objectives, a sequential analysis, especially while presenting tabulations and relationships among variables. Otherwise the data will drive the writing and the objectives may be lost in the process. The hypothesis guides how the interrelation among variables is unfurled in the discussion and analysis section, with a positive or negative relationship among variables. The context of the study determines the findings and their relevance.

5.2. Qualitative Research Writing

Qualitative methods and findings yield a slightly different structure for writing. The structure can be presented as follows:

Introduction
Background
Methods
Findings
Discussion
Conclusion.

The structure might vary with the preferences of the authors more or less the same sequence as above. It may be noted that qualitative studies can yield slightly more creative and interesting reports due to the nature of research itself being in-depth and descriptive in its nature.

The introductory section is similar to the quantitative study with focus on the issue, the literature review and locating the study within the debates. The aims and objectives are drawn from the presentation of the literature and the rationale for the study.

‘Background’ chapter/section reviews in detail the existing literature on the chosen area, and how the issue/theme of research is assessed for its adequacy. In this way, the present study’s relevance, significance and contribution is presented with reference to the aims and objectives.

‘Methods’ is the next important section where the tools, techniques for data collection are mentioned with the time frame and say, the number of interviews or detail description of observation, their structure and administration, a mention of any software used, for example, NVivo is outlined in this section.

‘Findings’ is the next section where the emerging themes are presented with extensive reference to the interview content. The significant outcomes, relationship between the variables is presented in qualitative terms, description of field and respondent profiles along with a basic tabulation of some variables such as age, sex, income or other similar quantifiable variables is also important part of this section. Subsections are written with appropriate headings with elaborate references to the responses of the interviewees/respondents and how the responses varied across their attributes. The themes and elements of findings that emerge out of this analysis is the input for the next section – Discussion. Quotations from the respondents are critical to analysis in qualitative studies exploring the theme/area of research, with elaborate details, verbatim and field notes. Using verbatim responses drives home the point the author is trying to make and is popular among social science and sociological research studies. Quotations actually give a voice to the respondents, provide evidence of relationships among variables and gives in-depth understanding of the study and theme to the readers.

‘Discussion’ section presents the findings of the study, in an elaborate manner with the emerging propositions/points the author is trying to make with reference to the literature referred to in the study. This connects the existing theoretical debate, and the literature cited and how the study itself makes a departure from the existing propositions, variable or in further confirmation of the cited theory. The limitations of the study could be mentioned in a separate subsection.

‘Conclusion’ is the next section where the theme, ideas and concepts that are central to the research and the significant findings are discussed in the light of the research question posed by the study. The main concepts that shape the study and its contribution are elaborated. Significance of the results of the study in enhancing the existing theoretical perspective or a departure from the same with limitations is the centre of the conclusion chapter.

5.2.1. Writing Ethnography:

Ethnography is based on a methodology (for anthropological studies but popular and pertinent for some sociological studies also) relying heavily on direct observation to generate in-depth knowledge about a specific culture or theme (read, for details about ethnography, Module RMS 25). Observation itself can be participant or non-participant, and the field level work includes collection of other relevant secondary data on the area or theme of study. Research design using ethnographic method requires an integration of the intensive observation and documenting it along with other data that is collected in the form of semi-structured interviews as deemed necessary by the author and any other information collected on field. Ethnographic studies yield case studies.

Writing ethnography involves a phase of pre-writing where the authors formulate the questions they seek to answer. This is followed by an intensive phase of field work and data collection resulting in an extensive documentation as field notes; transcripts of interviews with participants; descriptions of physical locations, settings, physical artifacts etc. The organization and structure of ethnography includes the voices of the respondents through quotations with details of the field data. Shaping of the content of the reports or papers happens through multiple drafts and revised versions as it happens with any other forms of writing. The structure of an ethnographic report includes the following:

Introduction: with an overview and background of the study, a literature review of the issue/area of study, research question emerging out of the existing literature and the aims and objectives.
Method: A comprehensive section on how the study and research questions are amenable to the use of ethnographic method, the need for in-depth understanding and analysis is presented. Collection and use of primary data based on direct and participant observation, in-depth and semi-structured interviews, as well as secondary data if available in the form of any documents, artefacts as evidence for the study are described in detail.
Findings and results: Ethnographic writing and content is enriched with the details of the respondents’ voices, their environs. Authors in this field evolve a structure of their own in presenting findings with various forms of data collected to provide evidence and as answers to the research question they pose. Quotations, narrations are the highlights of this form of writing.
Conclusion: In the light of the literature reviewed, authors discuss the findings as it is the case with the other forms of writing and methods. Limitations and further course of research are presented as appropriate.

Writing research based on qualitative methods is a craft unlike that with a purely quantitative study which involves presenting bare facts with facts, numbers and graphic presentations. Quantitative studies also can be made interesting if combined with a reflexive analysis focusing on the qualitative reasoning in offering inferences to the data presented. A mixed methods strategy can yield substantive results, interesting insights from field with a judicious mix of secondary data, as combination of methods is ideal for social science research.

Writing Mixed methods Study:

Research report based on mixed method tries to combine the strategies of both qualitative and quantitative ones. Since both types of data collection are employed, structure of writing is successful only when both are integrated and linked to a common analytical ground based on the concepts and theory, and research question posed in the introductory section. The independent execution of the qualitative and quantitative components, appropriately relating the aspects and variables under study for the area or theme of research is the key to a successful mixed methods study and writing. The research question and the research design offer common ground and clarity to using both methods and elaborating the emerging findings. Writing structure of the mixed methods follows the sequences of both quantitative and qualitative research discussed above.

Research methods bearing an impact on writing leads to the next section, where the various genres of writing are presented.

Presentations and Structure

Original and authentic research and academic presentations are an integral part of good quality academic work. The use of word processing and presentations using slides with the PowerPoint effectively is a task one has to master. Important genres of academic writing are:

Book
Journal article
Article in edited volume
Thesis
Literature review
Conference paper
Poster
Book review
Letters to editor
Annotated bibliography
Working papers/Occasional paper

A logical sub-division is provided by many writing resources now available online. One of them which follow the American Sociological Association manuscript formatting can be accessed at: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/583/1/, with a slightly different format. The webpage is self-explanatory and gives the text format, style to be followed with very precise instructions and details of font, size and margins also.

For an academic journal article, the general structure includes the following:

A Title
Author(s)
Abstract
Key words
Introduction
Methodology
Argument and content, details of data collected
Analysis and discussions
Conclusions
Footnotes
References

Some authors prefer endnotes and a bibliography. It may be noted that a list of ‘Reference’ includes only those literature cited in the text while a Bibliography may also include those that indirectly helped the author to write the paper.

Details of the structure for the dissertations and thesis may have:

A Title
Self-Certificate
Certificate of Supervisor(s)
List of contents
List of tables, charts and maps
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction (may contain specific title)
Literature review
Research Methodology
Findings (may be divided into appropriate chapters)
Conclusion and Recommendations
References
Appendices

A book may contain many aspects of thesis writing listed above though authors may combine or make short discussions on review of literature and methodology in the introductory chapter. For a conference paper presentation, usually the secretariat or organising body provides a template to be used by authors and the slides display the details of format. However, some authors prefer to prepare their own templates with the sub-sections such as those explained above. The power point file can be saved as a presentation file or some authors prefer to save it as a pdf format to keep the file safe and to save disk space.

Self-Check Exercise 1:

What are the factors that distinguish academic writing from other forms of writing?

Academic writing is based on research conducted with scientific methods, following a research question(s) framed with rigour, using a theoretical perspective, unlike any other creative writing endeavour. Objectivity, impersonal style in the language used, precision in writing and logic with a formal structure of writing distinguish it from other forms of writing.

2.How can one achieve precision in academic writing?

Academic writing requires rigour and precision, which is possible through a language and style that is impersonal and written in a passive tone. Objectivity and critical thinking are two qualities that an academic writer can inculcate. A thorough research on previous work and body of literature informs the author about various perspectives. This helps authors achieve precision in writing and the specific concepts used for writing. Creating an outline and following a structure helps authors achieve precision.

Ethics of Academic writing: academic integrity and avoiding plagiarism

Literature that exists is the intellectual property of the concerned authors. Original and indigenous concepts, texts, literature are precious and should be given ample respect. The challenge for academic writing is in building a comprehensive literature review, which is in the form of writings and research work done by other scholars over a long time period. Literature review is the core of academic writing.

Acknowledging the sources of the ideas, words of other scholars is the way to achieve academic integrity, raise the standards of writing and discipline in one’s work. Once an idea is borrowed, the text should be either used in quotation format with inverted commas and page number mentioned or if it is paraphrased, the author and year are to be placed in parenthesis within the text. Otherwise a footnote can be effectively composed and placed with the details of source and with an explanatory content.

Failure to acknowledge a source that had already quoted work in a particular area is not desirable in academic writing. This is termed as plagiarism. It is a serious offence and an author may forego the rights on such text and may forego any credit for it. Any document used to write a paper should be cited within the text or placed in the bibliography or references.

7.1. Ethics and academic language: some precautions

Research findings and reports, and all other forms of academic writing are now widely accessed by readers across the world. Academicians and authors must now be aware of the implications this has for the language they use, especially while referring to any specific group or community. Readers now belong to diverse groups across the world and are sensitive to stereotyping even if it is used inadvertently. Thus, use of stereotyped categorization that exists in common parlance cannot be used in academic writing and authors have to be sensitive to follow the rules of ‘equality and diversity’ in the terminology used (http://www.britsoc.co.uk/equality).

Academic language and writing itself has undergone a transformation with the widening of the social science research horizon. Research in sociology and in social sciences includes the issues of marginalised populations and communities which were hitherto excluded along with the oppressive and exploitative relations. Sociological research is now more inclusive and a reciprocal change is required in the language used by authors. This requires an awareness of the terminologies that can be universal and equitable, along with precautions for authors.

An author must follow the following precautions while writing. H/she must use

gender inclusive language/non-sexist language
non-racist language
non-disablist language
use of non-communal or ethnic categorization

7.1.1. Gender inclusive language:

Research can include and involve people of all genders, and while writing use of gender specific terminology such as ‘man’, ‘his’ in sentences can lead to many misconceptions. While women readers may feel excluded and offended, male readers may perceive that the writing is specific only to the men. Precautions to be followed for gender inclusive language are as follows:

Do not use ‘man’ to mean humanity in general – use the word ‘people’
Avoid use of ‘his’ to refer to a respondent unless it is specific reference. Using his/her in sentences is one option. Alternately, one can use ‘their’ and pluralising simplifies the sentence structure along with inclusivity. For example: A sentence like – ‘The respondent were asked whether he/she was comfortable in their work environment’ can be replaced with a pluralise sentence – respondents were asked whether they were comfortable with their work environments. This small change actually ensures ease for authors and readers in conveying equality and diversity.
Categories such as occupations and reference to a position in organization are another issue in academic language. These include for example: Chairman, Mailman, fireman etc. These must be replaced by non-sexist language as mentioned in the following list:

SEXIST	NON-SEXIST
man in the street	people in general, people
layman	lay person, non-expert
man-made	synthetic artificial manufactured
the rights of man	peoples’/citizens’ rights; the rights of the individual
chairman	chair
foreman	Supervisor
manpower	workforce staff, labour force,
craftsman/men	employees craftsperson/people
manning	staffing, working, running
to a man	everyone, unanimously, without
man-hours	exception workhours
the working man	worker, working people
models of man	models of the person
one man show	one person show
policeman/fireman	police officer/ fire-fighter
forefathers	ancestors
founding fathers	founders
old masters	classic art/artists
masterful	domineering; very skillful
master copy	top copy/original
Dear Sirs	Dear Sir/Madam
Disseminate	broadcast, inform, publicise
Seminal	classical, formative

Source: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/equality

7.1.2. Race, ethnicity and community inclusive language:

Research and academic language on ethnicity, race and minorities among the marginalised populations ideally must remain unbiased and objective. Words used and stereotypes can lead to unnecessary prejudice and can confirm or alter old, unscientific beliefs among readers. Words on colour and racism are not part of academic vocabulary. Careful choice of non-racist terms while referring to some populations across the world, countries, continents, ethnicities can be chosen appropriately from the following – ‘African’, ‘Caribbean’, ‘West Indian’, ‘American’, ‘Asian’, ‘South Asian’, ‘British’, ‘Civilisation’, ‘indigenous’, ‘developing countries’, ‘developing nations’, ‘diasporas’. This is not an exhaustive list, but it can indicate the objective reference to people of various groups.

7.1.3. Inclusive language for Disabilities and the Challenged:

The third category of terms used in research for the more sensitive population groups are the ‘differently able persons’ (commonly called disabled) who have to be referred to with sensitivity and equality. According to the British Sociological Association, the following are the precautions to refer to them:

Using medical labels must be avoided as this may lead to a misconception that they are patients and it is not appropriate. One should not use the word ‘disabled’. As disability is not a disease, the term ‘differently able person’ is most appropriate for such people.
In case one is referring to a condition, one can use a sentence such as “a person with….the specific condition’ and not the medical term like disease.
One should avoid use of words such as ‘mental retardation/mentally retarded’.
Avoid acronyms when referring to people e.g. ‘the SEN child’.
If the condition has a specific name, one can use the word with apostrophes

The following table mentions a more inclusive vocabulary and accepted for writing standards:

DISABLIST	NON-DISABLIST
Handicap	Disability
Invalid	Disabled person
Disabled /Handicapped	Differently able person
Special needs	Additional needs or needs
Patient	Person
Abnormal	Different or disabled
Victim of	Person who has / person with
Crippled by	Person who has / person with
Suffering from	Person who has / person with
Afflicted by	Person who has / person with
Wheelchair bound	Wheelchair user
The blind	Blind and partially sighted people or visually impaired people
The deaf	Deaf or hard of hearing people
Cripple or crippled	Disabled or mobility impaired person
The mentally handicapped	People / person with a learning difficulty or learning disability
Retarded / backward	Person with a learning disability
Mute or dumb	Person with (a) speech impairment
Mentally ill or mental patient	Mental health service user
Able bodied person	Non-disabled person

Source: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/equality

Citations

Scientific and academic writing is based on citations and they are very valuable to authors who cite and are cited too. These are signs of academic integrity and honesty. According to the web based Wikipedia, “a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of acknowledging the relevance of the works of others to the topic of discussion at the spot where the citation appears”. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Citation)

They enable readers to accurately track down the sources used, in a paper/book by way of footnotes, a bibliography or reference list. Using citations improves the credibility of the authors in academic writing. Relevant and appropriately cited sources can show the reader, the dedication of an author to the research craft and art. So it is important to list out the sources of data. For students, use of proper citations prove that they are responsible scholars, when ideas are acknowledged.

Words, phrases, text, figures, illustrations, images, ideas, tables, graphs and all explanatory and creative content which can be borrowed from others’ work. They should be quoted, and the source from texts, books, articles and sometimes databases are important for building academic content and knowledge base. They are usually found in bibliographies and reference lists and are also collected in article and book databases.

There are options for incorporating the words and ideas of other scholars and their contribution into ones’ own work. It can be done in the following ways:

i) Quote directly: put quotation marks around the words and identify the source.

ii) Paraphrase: put the information into your own words and identify the source.

iii) Summarize: take the key ideas and paraphrase them and identify the source.

In other words, one must cite:

Facts, figures, ideas, or other information that is not common knowledge,
Ideas, words, theories, or exact language that another person used in other publications,
Publications that must be cited include: books, book chapters, articles, web pages, theses, etc.
Another person’s exact words should be quoted and cited with page numbers to show proper credit and make the claim authentic.

It is crucial that one must always cite a source and be safe. This can be an advice to all authors across disciplines. There are some standard elements in the citations, and they convey information required to help reader track information. They are as follows:

author name(s) – use of last name first, for instance, Srinivas, M.N.
titles of books, articles, and journals
date of publication
page numbers
volume and issue numbers (for articles)

There are different styles used for different elements that are quoted. Depending on the chosen journal or book or thesis/dissertations, authors can choose appropriate style guides. Different journal or publishing houses also follow different citation styles and these are normally mentioned in the style sheets of the journal concerned.

8.1. Types of citations:

There are essentially five important styles, though there are many other formats derived by the various respective disciplinary associations. It should be noted that each style has distinctive rules for citation in the text as well as in the references/notes. The major citation styles are listed below:

American Psychological Association (APA) style: The APA was founded in July 1892 at Clark University. It is often used by history, economics, psychology and political science. The style of citation for a single author book, for example, is:Beck, U. (1992). Risk society towards a new modernity. London: Sage Publications.
Modern Language Association (MLA) style: The Modern Language Association was founded in 1883, as a discussion and advocacy group for the study of literature and some modern languages. It is often used in the arts and humanities. The style of citation for a single author book, for example, is: Beck, Ulrich. Risk Society towards a New Modernity. London: Sage Publications, 1992.
The American Sociological Association (ASA): This association was founded in December 1905 at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fifty people. The first president of the association was Lester Frank Ward. A Sample Citation for a single author is as follows: Beck, Ulrich. 1992. Risk society towards a new modernity. London: Sage Publications. For more details on the ASA citation formats for different categories, the following link is useful: http://lib.trinity.edu/research/citing/ASA_Style_Citations_4.pdf
CMS – Chicago Manual of Style or Chicago style is often used in architecture and urban planning. The style of citation for a single author book, for example, is: Beck, Ulrich. Risk Society towards a New Modernity. London: Sage Publications, 1992.
Harvard Reference format: The style of citation for a single author book, for example, is: Beck, U., 1992. Risk society towards a new modernity, London: Sage Publications.

Formats vary for article citations and across several categories depending on the number of authors, journal articles, edited books chapters and several other parameters. A comprehensive and comparative chart showing the different style guides and the innumerable variation in the author numbers, publishing books, journals and all the combinations for the APA, MLA and CMS styles can be accessed at:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20110928111055_949.pdf

For a better understanding of citations one can refer to a professional journal offering author guidelines. The Indian Sociological Society publishes a journal named ‘Sociological Bulletin’ which offers clear guidelines to authors for citation as mentioned below for citing works within the text. Figure 1 is an extract of the author guidelines to indicate how to use the names of authors for citations within the text of a research paper. This also includes how co-authors can also be included and the year of the work is mentioned in parenthesis within the text.

8.2. Citation software

The most complicated task for authors is to compile the citations and references at the end of the document. This arduous task is made easy by computers and software that can generate the citation style that any journal asks for. Authors can also save their references, add new and modify existing ones to the required format once a data base for their respective publications are collected in a database. The software converts references to the chosen format and even arranges them in alphabetical order. A comprehensive guide on the available software types can be accessed at convenience online, through the following link:

http://libguides.mit.edu/references

According to the webpage mentioned above, citation software can do the following:

· “import citations from your favourite databases and websites,

· build and organize bibliographies,

· format citations for papers,

· take notes on articles and save them in your collection of citations,

· save and organize PDFs, screenshots, graphs, images, and other files for your research”,

There is also a comparative note on the three citation software types namely: EndNote, Zotero and Mendeley to understand the relative benefits of each of them.

One can visit the website www.mendeley.com, to access the software which is easily downloadable on to a desktop computer or a laptop and start using the application to choose and import, convert and cite a large database of articles (some of which are available online can be downloaded and saved as a library also). The software in fact can be integrated with the word processor MS Word to automatically generate references at the end of a document. Use of citation software automatically guides authors to cite and quote and prevents plagiarism.

Self-check exercise 2

Q. What is Academic integrity and plagiarism?

Academic integrity is a best practice for authors to follow while citing the literature surveyed and acknowledging the knowledge sources. Plagiarism is an offence, punishable and is the opposite of academic integrity. It means that the ideas, sentences used in a publication are not acknowledged and thus falsely claiming ownership of others’ intellectual property.

Q. How can one practice academic integrity?

Academic integrity can be practiced by giving citations. There are options for incorporating the words and ideas of other scholars and their contribution into ones’ own work as follows:

Quote directly: put quotation marks around the words and identify the source.

Paraphrase: put the information into your own words and identify the source.

Summarize: take the key ideas and paraphrase them and identify the source.

In other words, one must cite:

· Facts, figures, ideas, or other information that is not common knowledge

· Ideas, words, theories, or exact language that another person used in other publications

· Publications that must be cited include: books, book chapters, articles, web pages, theses, etc.

· Another person’s exact words should be quoted and cited to show proper credit

9. Editing and proofing

Authors may feel the ease once the entire draft is complete. But that is not a job done completely. There is need to improvise on the style and writing and authors should conduct a thorough proof reading of all pages. The important aspects that one should bear in mind are:

· Whether the article answers the research questions framed? Accordingly, the central argument, discussion and data presented must be checked.

· Is the paper/article well balanced or some of the sub-sections need to be rewritten? For this some sections can be reframed and reorganized.

· Is the article conveying the argument or discussion clearly and logically? This requires a check on the flow of writing and any modification in content.

· Are there any gaps or any aspect forgotten? Authors can add new or modify sections and headings appropriately.

· Authors should ideally ponder over the document and complete any gaps if found.

· Checking uniformity in language, style, font, format, syntax, citation and references are equally significant and challenging tasks. Very often even computers fail to check typing errors. A common error is to type two sets of data for a single reference, for instance, year of publication of a book/article cited in the text and in the reference. Authors need to be very careful in managing these professionally.

Sometimes this job is offered to a language expert or a proof reader who has experience in handling such tasks. In case of book publishers, there are professional language editors for this specialist job. This task requires diligence and a thorough knowledge of the subject or discipline concerned apart from command over English language. At a very preliminary level as mentioned in one of the previous sections this can also be done by the word processing software like MS Word.

10. Summary and Conclusion

One can conclude that academic writing is a craft and a science. It is a craft as it is a creative endeavour by the authors to generate new knowledge, with objectivity and precision. As much as it is authentic, it is dependent on other knowledge sources. Academic integrity in citing sources of knowledge, acknowledging others’ intellectual contributions is a crucial factor in academic writing. Avoiding citations deliberately or by chance or missing is an offence. One should note that it is easy now-a-days to trace what has been plagiarised. Hence, there are several instances of authors being caught and punished for the crime.

Using the newly available software which can generate citations in a chosen format such as EndNote, Zotero and Mendeley are very useful if the authors are technologically savvy and if the internet is available for them. These can help authors structure their arguments and discussion in a scientific and systematic way with ease, and one can enjoy the benefits of this craft. Academic writing can be a very fulfilling endeavour when it is authentic and when the author pursues it as a passion.

you can view video on Academic Writing: Language, Presentation and Citation

11. References:

Badley, Graham. ‘Academic Writing as Shaping and Re-Shaping’. Teaching in Higher Education 14, 2 (2009): 209–19.
Bailey, Stephen. Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students. Second Edition. Routledge, 2006.
Bryman, Alan. Social Research Methods. Fourth Edition. New York: Oxford University Press. 2012.
Davis, Lloyd and Mckay, Susan. Structures and Strategies: An Introduction to Academic Writing.
Hyderabad: Universities Press, 1996.
Hartley, James. Academic Writing and Publishing: A Practical Handbook. London: Routledge, 2008.
Hunt, Celia and Sampson. Writing: Self and reflexivity. New York: Palgrave, 2006.
Sociological Bulletin, Vol. 60, No. 3, Special Diamond Jubilee Issue on Indian Sociological Society and the Sociological Bulletin (September-December 2011) Author guidelines.
The Sociology Writing Group. A Guide to Writing Sociology Papers. New York: Worth Publishers, 2001.
Tirhekar, Sushma Shirish. Research Methodology in Education. USA: Lulu Publication. 2013.

Wikipedia reference:

Other references:
http://www.researchconnections.org/childcare/research-glossary#E
https://integrity.mit.edu/handbook/what-plagiarism