Referencing is a vital part of academic writing. It allows the writer to give recognition, to the work of others used in his/ her paper. By referencing, you can avoid being caught for plagiarism. Students like you must properly cite others work so that the readers are able to locate the materials used. Referencing shows, the reader how your argument relates to the big picture. So, whenever you use a fact, idea, or a theory from other sources, you must put them in the reference section.
Students tend to interchangeably use the terms “citations” and “references”, which is wrong. The term citation is one of the elements involved in referencing. You use citation at the end of the body of your paper. Referencing, on the other hand, is done at the end of the paper. A reference list consists of the list, of all sources that were used in the assignment. They are arranged in an alphabetical order and each source is entered in detail. For example-
“American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington DC: Author.”
The above example consists of the name of the source, year, the title of the source, name, and place of publication.
There are various formats and rules that you have to follow while referencing. There are different styles of referencing namely, the APA style, the MLA style, or the Chicago style. You must know which style you will be using before you start preparing your reference list. Most students have a hard time in drafting their reference list. The reasons are as follows:
1. Unclear about various citing styles
As mentioned earlier there are various styles of referencing that students’ use. In the rush to complete their paper, they do not learn how to cite a source. This, in turn, gives them a tough time while citing. Since there is a different format for each source, students have to be careful while making the reference list. The problem of unclear citing concepts, make the referencing task appear complicated. Thus the students must devote sufficient time, to make a reference list as it requires format accuracy. Any kind of format error would bring down the scores of your paper. This is the major problem that the students face while referencing.
2. Poor time management
Being a student is tough. With an over demanding academic schedule and extracurricular activities leave less or no time for the students, to spend on their research work. This results in hurried paper writing. Most students do not plan their paper writing task and struggle on the last day. They wait until the last minute to start their work, which leaves them with no extra time to spend on the sections like references or appendices. You must start working on your paper as soon as you get the assignment. Since it is a research study, it will not happen in a day. Rather, it takes months of research to write a high-quality academic research paper, consisting of a proper reference section without any error. By devoting time to each section of the paper will give you sufficient time, to make the last minute corrections. Hence, do not start your work a day before the submission day.
3. Lack of patience and accuracy
In order to conduct any research work, it requires a great amount of patience, which seem to lack in students today. These days’ students find out an easy way to complete their work fast and submit on time. But while writing a research paper or a dissertation, you cannot rush through the whole process. You must have the patience to conduct a detailed research, in order to write quality content. Most students are patient while writing the main content of the paper, but once the main writing is done they get impatient. The sections after the body are done hastily, which results in the lack of accuracy in work. You must be patient while writing the other sections of a research paper as they are equally important as the main content.
4. Pressure to produce a high-quality paper
In order to score well, students have a constant pressure to write an excellent paper. This results in spending too much time on the content and less time on the other sections of the paper. Students meticulously work on enhancing the quality of their content and ignore the other parts, which brings their scores down. You need to understand, that in order to write a quality paper you cannot overlook the other sections. When an evaluator examines your paper, he/she looks through the whole paper and not just the content. So, it is important to equally divide the time for content writing and other sections of the paper.
5. Seeking to unsuitable sources for help
When the students do not understand the concept of citing, they approach their peers instead of their professors. The loophole here is that every student will have a different understanding, which can confuse the student even more. In order to save yourself from that scenario, it is wise to consult the teacher for his/ her guidance. By asking the teacher you will know what exactly needs to be done.
6. Lack of proper training
This is another main reason for students finding the referencing part challenging. As soon as the teacher gives out the assignment he/ she, must instruct the students about the referencing style which is to be used in the paper. There are times when the teachers do not train their students, on this particular topic and the students are left confused and clueless. Thus it is essential on the teacher’s part, to hold a training session on how to cite sources in a paper, in order to clear all the doubts of the students.
Above mentioned are just a few of the challenges that the students face while making a reference list. In order to overcome such hurdles, one must take the help of their professors to have a smooth writing experience with the references.
Students tend to interchangeably use the terms “citations” and “references”, which is wrong. The term citation is one of the elements involved in referencing. You use citation at the end of the body of your paper. Referencing, on the other hand, is done at the end of the paper. A reference list consists of the list, of all sources that were used in the assignment. They are arranged in an alphabetical order and each source is entered in detail. For example-
“American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington DC: Author.”
The above example consists of the name of the source, year, the title of the source, name, and place of publication.
There are various formats and rules that you have to follow while referencing. There are different styles of referencing namely, the APA style, the MLA style, or the Chicago style. You must know which style you will be using before you start preparing your reference list. Most students have a hard time in drafting their reference list. The reasons are as follows:
1. Unclear about various citing styles
As mentioned earlier there are various styles of referencing that students’ use. In the rush to complete their paper, they do not learn how to cite a source. This, in turn, gives them a tough time while citing. Since there is a different format for each source, students have to be careful while making the reference list. The problem of unclear citing concepts, make the referencing task appear complicated. Thus the students must devote sufficient time, to make a reference list as it requires format accuracy. Any kind of format error would bring down the scores of your paper. This is the major problem that the students face while referencing.
2. Poor time management
Being a student is tough. With an over demanding academic schedule and extracurricular activities leave less or no time for the students, to spend on their research work. This results in hurried paper writing. Most students do not plan their paper writing task and struggle on the last day. They wait until the last minute to start their work, which leaves them with no extra time to spend on the sections like references or appendices. You must start working on your paper as soon as you get the assignment. Since it is a research study, it will not happen in a day. Rather, it takes months of research to write a high-quality academic research paper, consisting of a proper reference section without any error. By devoting time to each section of the paper will give you sufficient time, to make the last minute corrections. Hence, do not start your work a day before the submission day.
3. Lack of patience and accuracy
In order to conduct any research work, it requires a great amount of patience, which seem to lack in students today. These days’ students find out an easy way to complete their work fast and submit on time. But while writing a research paper or a dissertation, you cannot rush through the whole process. You must have the patience to conduct a detailed research, in order to write quality content. Most students are patient while writing the main content of the paper, but once the main writing is done they get impatient. The sections after the body are done hastily, which results in the lack of accuracy in work. You must be patient while writing the other sections of a research paper as they are equally important as the main content.
4. Pressure to produce a high-quality paper
In order to score well, students have a constant pressure to write an excellent paper. This results in spending too much time on the content and less time on the other sections of the paper. Students meticulously work on enhancing the quality of their content and ignore the other parts, which brings their scores down. You need to understand, that in order to write a quality paper you cannot overlook the other sections. When an evaluator examines your paper, he/she looks through the whole paper and not just the content. So, it is important to equally divide the time for content writing and other sections of the paper.
5. Seeking to unsuitable sources for help
When the students do not understand the concept of citing, they approach their peers instead of their professors. The loophole here is that every student will have a different understanding, which can confuse the student even more. In order to save yourself from that scenario, it is wise to consult the teacher for his/ her guidance. By asking the teacher you will know what exactly needs to be done.
6. Lack of proper training
This is another main reason for students finding the referencing part challenging. As soon as the teacher gives out the assignment he/ she, must instruct the students about the referencing style which is to be used in the paper. There are times when the teachers do not train their students, on this particular topic and the students are left confused and clueless. Thus it is essential on the teacher’s part, to hold a training session on how to cite sources in a paper, in order to clear all the doubts of the students.
Above mentioned are just a few of the challenges that the students face while making a reference list. In order to overcome such hurdles, one must take the help of their professors to have a smooth writing experience with the references.
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