Appropriate Referencing: Fundamental Skill for Successful Business Essay Writer

The Importance of Referencing

Why should referencing bother you when crafting a business essay? It’s simple! To acknowledge that the theories, notions, and findings you are using are not your own but somebody else’s work. By referencing, a paper writer uses another person’s contribution to create his or her own argument and back up the claims.

Moreover, referencing helps essay writers to avoid plagiarism – an academic offense that calls for disciplinary measures to be taken against the culprit. Also, students lose marks due to poor referencing. For these reasons, referencing is a fundamental concept that every student should learn.

Different Types of Referencing

There are numerous types of referencing styles, and different departments may have varying preferences. It is important to note there is no standard referencing style for all institutions and students should keep to the styles recommended by their instructors.

The common referencing styles are MLA (Modern Language Association of America), APA (American Psychological Association), Harvard, and Chicago Manual of Style. Using all these styles has one aspect in joint: there are certain types of information to be outlined in the literature cited list and in-script records, with the difference in their arrangement and position. For instance, below are factors of resources that must be part of the citation:

• The heading of the utilized resource
• Writer
• Time of publication
• Publisher

The following sections include a brief description of how to cite and reference using MLA and APA effectively. These are commonly used strategies in business, cultural sciences, and humanities.

APA Style

When applying APA referencing, the in-script quotation adopts the writer-date approach. The writer’s surname and the time of publication for the resource are then outlined in the script. For instance, (Jamal, 2019). In the case of short, direct quotations from an academic resource, the in-script citation comprises the writer’s last name, time of publication, and page number of the resource led by “p.”

As for extended, straight quotes containing more than 40 words, they are outlined in a free-standing block and without the inclusion of speech marks. If you have paraphrased anyone else’s notion, you should only comprise the writer’s last name and time of publication in your quotation. With regard to the list of the cited literature, it should be outlined after the conclusion of the essay, in a new sheet, and should comprise all the sources cited in the text. Below are precise procedures and guidelines that should be considered when applying APA.

• Hanging indentation should be applied to the references
• Author’s surname and the initials are outlined
• Arrangement of the reference list in alphabetical order must be done
• For multiple resources by the same author, arrange them chronologically beginning with the oldest and ending with the most recent one.

MLA Style

When applying MLA style, acknowledging the ideas of others is done by use of parenthetical citations. The author-page approach is followed for the in-text citations. The surname of the author and the page number from which the restatement or quote was taken is outlined in the text. At the same time, a comprehensive reference appears in the works cited page at the end of the article. The following additional MLA guidelines should be followed:

• A ‘Works Cited’ title is outlined in a new page at the end of the essay
• The source list must be arranged in alphabetical order based on the authors’ surname
• Second and successive lines of a resource have to be indented 0.5 inches from the margin
• If a source is written by three or more biographers, the first author is named and “et al.” used followed by page number.

Practice Makes Perfect – Implement These Tips in Life

Every business student should have referencing skills as a way of avoiding plagiarism, validating arguments, offering credit to other people’s ideas, and enabling a reader to follow up the utilized resources if they wish to. There are numerous types of referencing styles, with no standard provision for all institutions. In business, the two common types of referencing are APA and MLA, each of them having specific guidelines.

Additionally, if you are experiencing difficulties with referencing your business essay, you can always address specialists in the field. There are all types of essay helping services on the market. Whether you need a custom essay, editing, proofreading, or referencing – there exists an approach to help you.