All Questions
163 questions
60
votes
8
answers
21k
views
Quoting a book whose title contains a racial slur
I'm writing a paper on the Front de Liberation du Quebec; a homegrown Quebec terrorist organisation in the 1960s. As research, I've extensively studied a book by one of the intellectual leaders of the ...
- 515
45
votes
4
answers
3k
views
How generous should I be with citations?
I am wondering if it is a bad thing to cite a paper in a scientific publication for a trivial or irrelevant reason.
The specific instance I have in mind is the usage of certain terminology. I ...
- 7,182
37
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Citing different papers which use different notation for the same concept,
Not sure if this is the place to ask about this. But for lack of knowledge of a better resource, I turn here.
When citing papers which use the different notation for the same model, is it better to ...
- 481
37
votes
6
answers
191k
views
How can I cite the same reference in successive sentences?
I've just read a paper that cited the same reference in two successive sentences:
This is the first sentence (xxxx 2013). This is the second sentence
(xxxx 2013).
Up until now, I would have ...
- 1,983
34
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Should I cite a really bad research paper published in my small research area?
I am working on a special topic in applied math. We are trying to explore a new and largely unexplored area in our line of research. Our hope is to be the first researchers to have solid results in ...
- 11.6k
34
votes
3
answers
6k
views
Citing two authors with the same surname – is it worth noting that they are distinct people?
In the paper I am currently writing I cite works by Bill Smith and Fred Smith.
I refer to them both several times, as several of Bill Smith’s papers provide the basis for some of the techniques I am ...
- 8,746
32
votes
2
answers
5k
views
How to handle a common misconception when writing a Master's thesis?
I'm writing my Master's thesis in a field where there exists a common misconception regarding the properties of a material, stemming from some papers published in the 80's and 90's and disproved in a ...
- 421
31
votes
4
answers
77k
views
What year to use when citing second editions of books
This seems like a silly question, but I can't find a clear answer online. If Dr. Brainiac's Big Book of Science was first published in 1974, but I have the second edition, published in 1996, should I ...
- 3,645
28
votes
5
answers
2k
views
How to cite earlier work, discovered only at the end, that claims similar results to a recently completed project?
At the end of writing up our manuscript, we discover that there has been another earlier study in a very different context (but using a physical model very similar to ours) that claims a similar ...
- 393
27
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Getting secondary citations right
I have some questions regarding secondary citations (in an computer-science research paper that should be published in a journal). I know that they should be avoided when possible, but it is not ...
- 372
23
votes
7
answers
2k
views
How can I encourage my advisor to adopt better work practices?
I'm a second year PhD student. In general I love my advisor, but recently we've run into some small bumps in the road while working on a paper together. He's controlling the "master" copy and I send ...
- 1,999
23
votes
4
answers
6k
views
How should you refer to yourself in a paper?
When writing a paper that discusses previous work by the same set of authors, what is the correct way to refer to it?
For example,
"In 2012 Fred et al. introduced a third way of resolving the ...
- 3,511
20
votes
1
answer
6k
views
How to reuse complete paper for my thesis?
I am currently writing my PhD thesis, and I have published an article together with my supervisor. The third chapter of my PhD thesis (1/3 of my whole thesis) is basically the paper. I plan to include ...
- 955
19
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Are references with indication of page number uncommon in computer science?
I am writing a computer science paper in which I cite several lengthy sources (text books and standard specifications). Whenever I cite such a source, I add the page numbers of the subsection to which ...
- 293
19
votes
2
answers
7k
views
How should you cite dead urls in a thesis?
I am currently writing a thesis. In the related work part I am discussing a paper from a few years ago. The paper presents several web applications which were available back then. Hence, these ...
- 918
18
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Conjugation: Do we cite authors or papers?
When referencing to another work in a scientific paper, do we cite the paper or its author(s)?
This question is intended to clarify the conjugation of the verb that follows the reference -- ...
- 2,690
17
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How to politely say in a paper that most of the published research on a topic is by the same person?
My field is cardiovascular epidemiology, and my current research question relates to some risk factor which is supposed to strongly elevate cardiovascular risk in a defined subgroup. However, my data ...
- 523
17
votes
3
answers
365
views
Citing low quality papers (solutions) in surveys?
I sometimes find papers that aim to solve the same problem that I am working on, but these papers are of terrible quality. Some of these papers:
introduce wrong solutions,
re-introduce a solution ...
- 3,518
16
votes
5
answers
1k
views
What are we expected to do when citing literature?
Open any research article and it is littered with citations. I’ve recently been wondering what is expected of us when citing the literature:
Are we expected to cite every reference relevant to our ...
- 1,983
15
votes
4
answers
94k
views
How to cite sources written in a different language than English?
Assume one wants to cite a paper written in a different language than the article citing said paper (e.g., ones own article is written in English, but the source is French).
How to properly handle ...
- 1,810
15
votes
3
answers
6k
views
How do I cite a mathematical definition replicated verbatim?
I am writing a paper, in which I must include a definition of a particular mathematical structure. It's a structure with which very few people would be familiar, thus I wish to include it verbatim, as ...
- 303
15
votes
5
answers
7k
views
How should I cite a website URL?
I am currently writing a report and I have been compiling a list of references (from IEEE mostly) and I also have a number of websites.
My question is, what is the best way to note a website URL? ...
- 317
14
votes
4
answers
11k
views
Maximum number of citations per sentence?
I'm working on a literature review for a masters thesis in the sciences, and I have a ton of sources that cover the topic. Many specific points are covered ad nauseam, and many similar ideas can be ...
- 243
13
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Which could be considered an appropriate number of self-citations?
I am currently writing a paper that cites other works authored by me. I was wondering which percentage of self-citations is recommendable in a journal paper.
- 1,582
12
votes
2
answers
1k
views
If the same paper had many contributions in many fields, can I cite each contribution separately?
I am writing my thesis in computer science and have some issues.
I have several papers with more than one contribution in many fields (enhancement on several algorithms).
I want to mention each ...
12
votes
3
answers
17k
views
Can you cite other master's theses when writing your own?
I am completing a master's by research (in Humanities), and thus shall be writing a thesis with no class work. I am using both a mixture of primary and secondary source but one item that has me a bit ...
- 5,985
12
votes
1
answer
4k
views
What is the Latin term "pace" used for when referencing other scholars?
I frequently come across references to other scholars like:
In period P, syntactic construct C did not have function F (pace Smith 2000).
I understand that pace here signals that Smith (2000) ...
user25112
11
votes
4
answers
664
views
Citing papers, that are cited within a paper?
I am reading a paper which discussing the change in a specific idea in a field of science over time. I would like to basically summarize the points in the paper but in a smaller fashion by taking some ...
- 466
11
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How should I cite a conjecture to which no written record can be found?
Suppose that a famous mathematician E (long deceased) made a conjecture (C), but no written record of this can be found (either because none exists, or because it exists in a very obscure source). ...
- 7,182
11
votes
3
answers
41k
views
How do I cite same reference multiple times in a paper?
I am writing a report on CPUs and I need to constantly need to cite technical information from a single reference multiple times throughout the report, specifically the datasheet for an Intel ...
- 111
10
votes
4
answers
39k
views
How to reference studies mentioned in a paper without having to read the original papers?
I'm review the literature at the moment. Now I'm reading a paper that mention other studies. How can I reference them without reading the original papers?
- 385
10
votes
7
answers
60k
views
Can I add non-cited reference to bibliography?
I want to add non-cited references to bibliography for two reasons.
Sometimes, it is not clear whether I referred to it or not. Clearly, not only citing a statement is a citation, but also citing an ...
user82807
10
votes
6
answers
3k
views
How to handle citing duplicate publications?
I am writing a review article and have come across a number of references which were published verbatim in their entirety in more than one place (same author(s) and the same content; Duplicate ...
- 496
10
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Is it OK to reuse part of the related work section published in a previous paper?
We published paper A before. Now, we are writing the camera-ready version of paper B, which is closely related to paper A. Therefore, we currently reused around 50% of the related work section from ...
- 213
10
votes
3
answers
282
views
Should I normalize inconsistent proceedings titles?
I work in a discipline where titles of published conference proceedings are notoriously inconsistent. (Perhaps all disciplines are like this?) For example, various years' proceedings of the same ...
- 1,884
9
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Is citing only high-impact articles in my publication ethical?
This question is related to the articles that are often cited in introduction or motivation section of any article. Often while writing an introduction, I mostly cite the famous works that are ...
- 1,405
9
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Can I cite in a caption?
I am using an image from a users’ manual of a piece of software, and I was wondering if I can put a citation in the caption of the image. For example:
Figure 1.3 Illustration of WonderSoft’s ...
- 321
9
votes
2
answers
415
views
How to deal with poor scientific articles that seemingly reached the right conclusion?
I am writing a paper and some of our findings validate the conclusions from an already published peer-reviewed article in a respected journal. We also find things that differ.
However the authors of ...
- 93
8
votes
6
answers
2k
views
What is a good system for generating BibTeX reference keys?
When using a reference manager (or even when tracking references on a handwritten draft), it is common to have a key for each entry when referring to items, which the computer (or you in a final form) ...
- 8,746
8
votes
3
answers
596
views
When writing the paper about completed experiments, should you cite work you hadn't read before?
I (try to) do research in Computer Science/Deep Learning. I recently did some work developing a novel idea and am writing a paper on it. I have only written one paper before, and I'm currently being ...
- 183
8
votes
1
answer
206
views
How to reference different sources in a list?
I am writing my master thesis and I am not sure how to reference/cite different sources in a list.
I have a small list like:
The benefits of an "incredibly interesting topic" are:
benefit ...
- 183
8
votes
4
answers
469
views
What to add to paper where another team just beat you to the novelty
I want to know what the best option is for adjusting an article in prep under the following circumstances:
I've been working on this new model of a natural system for a while. I established the ...
- 181
8
votes
2
answers
592
views
How cite sources of 100-years-old analytical technique in a theory section?
In my master’s thesis in inorganic characterization, I have a theory chapter about X-ray (powder) diffraction. This technique is almost 100 years old, and have been described in a vast number of books,...
- 1,557
8
votes
1
answer
2k
views
How to cite prices in academia?
In the introduction of my thesis I want to motivate the use of alternative neutron converters to helium-3 by mentioning the exploding cost of latter.
I am not directly involved with helium-3, since I ...
- 180
8
votes
1
answer
16k
views
How to cite the same source multiple times in a row IEEE
I have several sentences in a row that that cite the same source. For example,
Here is question one [1]. Here is question two [1]. Here is question three [1][myOriginalWork]. Here is question ...
- 183
7
votes
2
answers
34k
views
How to cite in an appendix (and where to put the Citation list) of a PhD thesis?
I have a table of studies and formula per study in the appendix, so sth like
study A E = mc²
study B v = ma
etc. For each study I need to cite a source. Now normally the citation list for ...
- 173
7
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Which software can check on false references and incorrect citation on student papers?
I'm a TA at a medium-sized university in Asia, and as part of my routine, I randomly review student papers before using Turnitin for plagiarism checks. During these reviews, I've come across numerous ...
- 181
6
votes
6
answers
3k
views
How do you cite an entire magazine/periodical?
I have a class where I am supposed to talk about advertising in magazines, and I can't find any information on how to cite the entire magazine/periodical. I have to talk about the trends I generally ...
- 61
6
votes
3
answers
24k
views
Is it plagiarism/OK if I use big parts of someones literature review for the introduction section of my paper?
The questions says it all. I have an report I want to write. The level expected is slightly lower than that of a master thesis. I do need to write an introduction to the topic and there is a very ...
- 527
6
votes
6
answers
1k
views
Style for first introduction sentence - citation required for lurid statement?
I'm trying to write my first introduction sentence, which should be catchy. I came up with a sentence along the lines of "imagine the world without this super thing, all these things wouldn't be ...
- 528