In-text citations:
* Purpose: To briefly acknowledge the source of information within the body of your text.
* Format: Usually consists of the author's last name and the year of publication, sometimes with a page number.
* Placement: Appears directly after the borrowed information, enclosed in parentheses or brackets.
* Example: "The study found that students who engaged in regular exercise performed better academically (Smith, 2022)."
References:
* Purpose: To provide full bibliographic information about the sources used in your work.
* Format: Follows a specific style guide (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago). Includes author names, publication year, title, journal or book title, publisher, and other relevant details.
* Placement: Appears at the end of your paper in a separate section called "References" or "Works Cited."
* Example:
Smith, J. (2022). The impact of exercise on academic performance. *Journal of Educational Psychology*, 114(2), 250-265.
In short:
* In-text citations are like "footnotes" within the text, pointing readers to the source of specific information.
* References are a complete list of all sources used, providing readers with the information needed to locate and verify those sources.
Both in-text citations and references are crucial for:
* Avoiding plagiarism: Giving credit where credit is due.
* Supporting your claims: Providing evidence for your arguments.
* Enabling readers to verify your information: Allowing readers to find the original sources.