Citations in Academic Writing: Do You Have the Receipts?

How is academic writing different from writing an essay or even a term paper? The biggest difference, in my opinion, is the need for citations. Citations are the "receipts" that prove your arguments. Here are some examples:

“The link between obesity and carbohydrate intake has been studied at length in other research with inconsistent results.”

Citations, please! By citing who did this work, you prove it has been done.

“These differences could be due to the fact that women have been shown to have more complex internal dialog regarding dietary decision-making than men.”

Citations, please! Where has that been shown?

"Studies report improved glycemic control when nuts are added to the diet.¹”

More citations, please! You said studies – multiple – but only cite one. Unless it’s a review or meta-analysis, you should cite more than one study.

Not everyone cites early, but it helps minimize confusion. What do I mean when I say, “cite early”? If you have a couple of sentences in a row that are referring to one source, cite that source in the first sentence rather than at the end of the sentence group.

DON’T DO THIS: “One paper included in this review provided food assistance via meal kit delivery services to address food insecurity. The findings indicated significant improvements in food security status. For example, approximately 66% of the study population classified as very-low food security status at baseline, but just 24% of the population identified as such post-intervention.⁴” <-- first time the study is cited, but I have been wondering which study it was for several sentences.

DO THIS: “One paper included in this review provided food assistance via meal kit delivery services to address food insecurity.⁴  [<-- first time the study is cited.]  The findings indicated significant improvements in food security status. For example, approximately 66% of the study population classified as very-low food security status at baseline, but just 24% of the population identified as such post-intervention.”

Why cite early? Because when I don’t see the citation at first, I don’t know which study you’re talking about, and I wonder if you forgot to cite it. It distracts me and takes me out of the flow of your writing.

So, cite early and cite often. Getting feedback that says you cite too often is better than getting feedback that you don’t cite enough. In fact, not citing enough can get your writing rejected. When in doubt, cite!

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