What is reference citation?

A reference citation is a formal way of acknowledging the sources you used when writing a paper, report, or other academic work. It provides your reader with the information they need to locate and verify those sources. This avoids plagiarism and demonstrates the scholarly integrity of your work. Citations typically include author, date, title, and publication details. The specific format used depends on the citation style (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago). Citations usually appear in two places:

* In-text citations: Brief references within the body of your text, indicating where you've used specific information from a source. These usually contain the author's last name and the year of publication.

* Bibliography or Works Cited page: A list at the end of your work that provides full bibliographic information for each source cited. This allows readers to easily find and review the original sources.

In short, a reference citation is a system for crediting your sources and allowing others to trace your research.