Akademické písanie

There are two steps for citing sources:

1. the reference list at the end of the paper,
2. the citations (source information) in the text, which show which sources the information comes from.

Step 1 must be completed before you can do step 2, so creating a Working Bibliography as you research is an efficient system.

Each source of information you use — books, articles, etc.— becomes an entry on the reference list at the end of your paper. The style or format you use for the entries controls how the citations are done in the text.

What do we mean by reference “format” or “style”? It is the accepted way to list sources used in research. Slightly different formats are used indifferent professions and places, but professionals become accustomed to the required standards in their fields. Many professional journals set their own specific guidelines as well.

In Czech and Slovak the state norm in fields such as social sciences, education, etc. is called ISO 690. Most English-speaking journals use APA style for these fields. (There are other styles too, such as MLA and Chicago, which are not important for us here.) However, most formatting styles are very similar and easy to use. The overall purpose of the reference information is the same: to make it possible for the reader to evaluate the source, to have basic information about it (type of source, publication date,etc.), and to find it, if further interest warrants. The format you will usedepends on your teacher’s requirements.