If you’ve read any scientific work, you’ll realize that citations are an essential part of it.
Whether in the form of direct or indirect citation , they are the ones that prove that the research has a scientific basis and, consequently, more credibility.
In addition, citations avoid plagiarism and enrich your work with references to other researchers.
But there are several ways to use them in an academic work and it is essential that you know the correct way, especially if you are going to be evaluated.
When we speak of citations in academic works, we mean that there are references to parts of other works , regardless of where they are inserted.
For example, it is a citation when you copy a part of a book in your academic work.
Likewise, copying excerpts from websites, YouTube videos, series or magazines is also citing another work, even if you are also the author.
But why use quotes?
Even if you are the author of the work you are citing, be sure to identify the reference .
This is because a research or an academic work needs scientific bases , clarity in explanation, reliable sources and the possibility of being studied by anyone.
That is, by citing other authors and placing the reference to the work, you allow your readers to search for the original texts and read for themselves.
In fact, this is a highly valued practice in science, as it enables the continuity of research and the production of many other works.
In addition, many reviewers will look to cited authors to see if they are reliable sources on the subject, thus measuring the technical quality of their research.
In this case, there are three types of citations used in academic works: direct, indirect and citation of the citation . And I’ll teach you how to do them all!
types of citations
If you think you’ve never used a quote, you probably don’t know about indirect quote .
It is used whenever we talk about other works in our own words and without citing the author’s exact words.
In ABNT, these citations are referenced as follows:
- The original work must be referenced according to the ABNT standards for references (NBR 6023): put the author’s last name, year of publication of the work and, if necessary, page;
- The indirect citation must follow the formatting of the text, without indenting or changing the font size.
As the example shows:
(ROCHINSKI, 2021. Citation available in a work published in Even3 Publications. Read more here )
On the other hand, direct quotation is the most common of quotations, as it literally transcribes an excerpt from the work, respecting all the author’s words.
But it has two different forms.
When it is less than three lines long, it is called a short direct quote .
In ABNT, the short direct quote is presented as follows:
- They are cited throughout the text, between quotation marks, but without changing the font size;
- As required by the ABNT standard on references (NBR 6023), the author must be referenced with the surname, year of publication of the work and the page where the presented excerpt appears.
As the example shows:
(SILVA, 2021. Citation available in a work published in Even3 Publications. Read more here .)
long direct quote
Unlike short quotes, long direct quotes are those that are longer than 3 lines .
According to ABNT, they are presented in the text following the rules:
- It should be highlighted with a 4cm indentation from the left margin
- Smaller font than the text, depending on the model adopted by the institution. Normally, size 10 is recommended;
- single spacing
- Without quotes
- Mandatory pagination
Here’s an example of a long direct quote:
According to Marconi, Lakatos:
The bibliographic research is an overview of the main works already carried out, coated with importance, for being able to provide current and relevant data related to the theme. In this sense, bibliographic research studies a problem related to scientific knowledge or its applicability. (MARCONI, LAKATOS, 2019, p.160).
(BRITO, 2022. Citation available in a work published in Even3 Publications. Read more here .)
Have you ever heard of the famous apud ? It usually appears like this in academic texts:
In this case, this is the way to present the famous quotes from quotes .
That is, the direct or indirect citation of a text in which the original was not available .
According to ABNT, citations of citations must be presented as follows:
- First you must indicate the reference of the author not consulted, then follow the “apud”, which means “cited by, according to”, and the complete reference to the author of the consulted work;
- It is not necessary to list the work indicated by “apud” in the reference list at the end of the work, only the consulted text;
- It is not a rule, but it is interesting that you put in the footnote the complete reference of the work not consulted.
Example:
Also, remember: apud is a resource that exists to be used, but it’s not worth abusing, is it?
The ideal is that you consult original works to give more credibility to your research and reference them all correctly. There are even apps to help you do that!
Now, citations and references are likely to fill your work.
So, how about knowing tools that will help you comply with ABNT standards and don’t forget to reference anything?
Know more:
EndNote Web:
EndNote is a reference manager software that allows you to automatically format your research bibliography, organize references and citations and create your own reference library.
It’s great for anyone who wants to see all the citation references already used in their work and put them all together in one place. So you don’t forget anything!
Mendeley
Like Endnote, Mendeley is also a reference library, but it has even more features.
Mendeley is an automatic reference generator. That is, with it you don’t need to memorize all ABNT norms on references. Ufa!
In addition, this tool is a great PDF file manager, allowing you to store and share documents and also work as a knowledge network between researchers.
MORE
Another reference manager that I love and use a lot is the Online Mechanism for References (MORE) , from Universidad Federal de Santa Catarina.
It is super practical and fast!
There, you can create automatic references for various types of works, in addition to storing your references by collections created according to your needs and/or preferences.
