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End References

How to prepare the "literature cited" section or "References"

Before you prepare the "References" section of your paper, make a list of sources used in the paper (i.e., journal articles, books, proceedings, electronic resources, etc.). Choose a format among C-S , C-N and N-Y systems to cite the works used in your paper. Decide:

a) how you use the authors’ names, (e.g., Author's last name followed by first and middle initials or first initial only);

b)  Journals (abbreviated titles or full titles).

When you cite the journal titles in abbreviated forms in the "References", use a standard form of abbreviation of journal titles  found in  print publications, such as BIOSIS Serial Sources, INSPEC LIST of Journals. Journal abbreviations can also be found in databases like, PubMed and PubMed Central. Also, a number of authoritative websites provide standard form of journal abbreviations as listed in the sidebar  'Journal Title Abbreviations' in this guide. Regardless of the system you choose (N-Y or C-S or C-N), be consistent with the style and the format of citations in running text and the references. 

Sequence of References

  • In Citation-Sequence System, the first cited work in the text should be numbered 1 in the reference list and other cited works should be numbered in the references following their sequences in the text.   If you cite one work or study more than once in the text, its number should be unchanged throughout the text, as it is refers to the same citation in the reference list.
  • In Name-Year System, alphabetic sequencing is determined by the first author's last name.  If there are two or more references by the same author, the references should be sequenced by publication date (earliest to latest). 
  • In Citation-Name System, place references in alphabetic order by authors’ last names and number them accordingly. These numbers are used for the in-text references in C-N system regardless of the sequence in which they appear in the text of the work. For example, if a work by Winter is the first in-text reference in the your document and is#35 in your reference list, the in-text reference will also be numbered as 35. Use the same number for subsequent in-text references to the same document.