A dissertation is an important document in every student’s life. It is so specific and important that a single mistake in its citations can ruin your academic career. It is because the citations save you from plagiarism charges. Also, citations prove that you have taken the data from credible sources and not from the random sources available on the internet. However, citing a PhD dissertation is as difficult as it is important. To cite a dissertation, the writer must have the know-how of all the tips and tricks to do this.
As you are here reading this guiding post about tips for creating well-formatted citations, it means you do not know much about them. Well, worry not. In today’s article, we will explain all the tips and tricks needed to create well-formatted citations for a PhD dissertation. Before that, let’s explain what it means to cite a dissertation.
What does it mean to cite a dissertation?
Citing a dissertation means mentioning all the sources you have used to gather related information and the information you have used in your dissertation. It is about mentioning their authors and crediting them for their hard work. The way how you need to mention the authors varies depending on the chosen citation style. However, the purpose is the same, i.e., crediting the authors of the original research.
Top tips for creating well-formatted citations for a PhD dissertation
Citing the sources, you have used in your dissertation seems like a very boring task. It is often tempting and challenging to remember the correct place of the comma and full stop in creating a good citation. Therefore, in today’s article, we have decided to discuss the top tips that may help you in creating well-formatted citations for a PhD dissertation. Hence, a brief description of all those tips is as follows:
1. Choose the right source
Before citing the source, having the source is mandatory. The source is the research paper or article from where you are taking the relevant data to your dissertation. Therefore, to create a good citation, first, you need to find the right source. Once found, next, you should note down the name of the author of the source and the year of publication. This is the most crucial information you need to have.
2. Choose the right citation style
A citation style is a specific style which consists of several rules and regulations to create a citation. When you are citing your PhD dissertation, you need to choose the right citation style. There are numerous styles in use today, e.g., APA, Harvard, or Chicago. You can choose any style you want. However, when choosing the style, make sure that you have an idea of all the rules and regulations you need to follow. Otherwise, you cannot create a well-formatted citation for your dissertation.
3. Be careful with period placements
One mistake in placing the period or comma can ruin your citation. Creating citations in the correct format is extremely important because it gets counted in the assessment phase. Pay careful attention to where you are placing your commas and periods in the citation. It is also necessary because each citation follows a different way. Some examples are as follows:
- APA style. (Jones, 2017) (Ali et al., 2017)
- MLA style. (Jones 163) (Jones and Ali 234)
- Chicago style. (Brown 2004, 12).
4. Be consistent with a style
The 4th tip when attempting to create well-formatted citations is that you must be consistent with a particular citation style throughout the PhD dissertation. It means once you have chosen a citation style, stick to it. It should not be like that one source is cited in APA style, and the other is cited in MLA style. As the writer of the dissertation, you must be consistent with your citation style. However, if you feel like you cannot maintain consistency in this lengthy document, you can always consider getting PhD dissertation help online.
5. Use an online citation generator
The last tip to create well-formatted citations is that you should use an online citation generator if you cannot create citations on your own. There are numerous tools available online that can do this for you. Such tools are powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), and they readily sense what the type of document is and what would be the best format for this document. Therefore, with the help of online tools, you can generate well-formatted citations.
Conclusion
Citing a PhD dissertation means mentioning all the sources that you have used in your dissertation writing. Doing it right is very important, as a single mistake in the citation style can ruin all your efforts. Therefore, make sure that you follow all the tips mentioned above. The tips given above are your gateway to writing a good dissertation.
