how to collect references for thesis

Dr. Heidi Toivonen

Psychologist

How to Use References Properly in Your Thesis

In this post, I am going to go through some of the most common mistakes I have seen in student assignments, theses, papers I receive for peer review, as well as even in published scientific articles, in terms of how literature references are used. Thus, today, we will take a look at how to use references properly in your thesis, whether it is a BSc or a MSc thesis. If you are reading this, I assume chances are you are a psychology major. That is great! However, I think this post might be interesting to you even if you major in something else. For the psychology students: We will not be going to APA details here. This post is not about the citation technicalities but about the academically and ethically sound use of references.

Be Sure Your References Say What You Claim They Say

This might just be the single most common issue in reference use I encounter in student theses. Sometimes it might seem like the student is just throwing within a parentheses a likely name who they think argued a particular thing in their book or article, but when I go and check it up, the original source says nothing of the kind the student claims they do. Either the student has confused who said what or they copied this reference from some other source, who also did not double check their sources.

This mistake tells me that your literature reading, note taking, and archival management strategies need some tweaking. When understanding how to use references properly in your thesis, the first thing is to make sure you have a sound process for staying track on what you read and who said what. Learning how to take effective notes from what you read is one of the most important academic skills. With good notes, you will never need to go back to the original source again, as your notes tell you exactly what is in this source. In addition, you will memorize better who wrote what, and you won’t confuse things and start misattributing claims and research results to wrong sources. Good notetaking will keep you on track of which results, claims, concepts, and theories come from which scholars, and you never make the mistake of not giving glory to whom glory belongs.

Don’t Copy Text!

If you are writing your BSc or MSc thesis, it should be already clear to you that all sorts of plagiarizing and copying is the epitome of uncool in academia. However, it is not entirely uncommon that I notice a student taking a sentence from a paper, changing a couple of words in it, and either presenting it as their own (no reference information provided), or misattributing the reference to an author who for sure did not write the thing in question.

Let me clarify. If you write a sentence that is clear and self-evident in the sense that there is no question of the truth-value of your claim, such as “Climate change is an ever-growing problem for all life on earth”, you don’t necessarily need a reference there. You can add one (for such statements about climate change, IPCC or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change with its various publications is a safe bet). However, think about a more complicated sentence that in all likelihood is the result of hours or days of reading and thinking work on the part of its author. You cannot just change some words into their synonyms and call the phrase your own. Even changing a couple of words in the sentence and then adding a reference to the paper where you took the sentence is not okay. Why?

Let’s take the following clause: “The idea of agency also implies the agent’s separation from others, their awareness of their own actions, and ability to reflect upon those actions”. It comes from a recent paper of me and my co-author, named “Storytalk and complex constructions of nonhuman agency: An interview-based investigation”. However, even diligently putting Toivonen & Caracciolo, 2022 within brackets after this sentence is not saving you from my critical inquiry. Why? Because the original sentence is not relying upon the reflections of me and Caracciolo, but emerges from our reading of what Rom Harré, Jeffrey Scott Marchand, Rob Pope, and Mutsumi Yamamoto had to say on the topic.

Now you might think that the correct solution is to alter the nice sentence about agency sufficiently enough so that it does not look like you copied it from my paper, add the correct references (Harré, 1993; Marchand, 2018; Pope, 1998; Yamamoto, 2006) after it, and call it a day. Unfortunately, this is not the right solution either. You cannot cite references you haven’t read yourself. I know, it sucks. So many papers and books to read, so little time. However, that’s how research and academia works. You end up reading a lot, and often it even so happens that you read a bunch but end up either using none of what you read in your own work or, alternatively, the fruit of twenty hours of reading becomes one single sentence. Welcome to academia!

I cannot stress enough how important it is not to place such references behind your claims that you have not actually familiarized yourself with. A nasty supervisor might make sure they question you in your colloquium about a reference they think you might not have read yourself. Then you are in trouble, trying to formulate an answer based on having read one single sentence from a second-hand source.

On what basis would I as a supervisor presume you have not read something yourself? Well, perhaps I see you writing something that is very similar to what I have written in my own work, citing a reference I myself have used. Perhaps you are not spending any time on elaborating what it is this author has claimed -you are just placing a name within parentheses after a sentence that smells like copypasted from another paper. Also, quite frankly, if I myself spent months crawling through, let’s say, a philosophical essay collection by the notoriously difficult-to-grasp Donna Haraway, trying to persuade me to believe you read and digested the book in the two weeks you had to write your BSc or MSc thesis deliverable is going to take some work.

In a nutshell: Don’t copypaste sentences. Don’t even first copy them and then alter them in the attempt of masking your copypasting efforts. Give credit to whom credit belongs. Read the original sources, don’t cite from second hand ones.

Now, we are off to the third point in making your reference game bulletproof and making sure you understand how to use references properly in your thesis.

Check What You Cite

I tend to know relatively well the literature my students use when writing their theses. This is because I only supervise theses written about topics that I personally research myself. Sometimes I encounter a new name, thinking happily that a student has found a paper or a book that I haven’t discovered yet. Sometimes this initial joy ends up in supervisory disappointment, as it turns out the student is using a blog post, magazine article, or a MSc thesis as a reference.

Generally speaking, in a scientific product we cite other scientific products, that are either peer-reviewed articles from scientific journals or scientific books. Try to do your best to avoid citing a MSc or a BSc thesis. No matter how good a thesis is, it is not a peer reviewed scientific publication. Only if there is absolutely nothing else available on a topic and the thesis in question is of very high quality, would I personally recommend (or even allow) citing a thesis in a thesis.

When it comes to blog posts or magazine/newspaper articles, you can cite them under certain circumstances. Firstly, you need to make it explicitly clear that the source we are looking at here is not a scientific paper, but an article from “The New Yorker” or a post from a climate scientist’s website, for example. Secondly, you have to use this information in a way that does not presume it is a scientific source. Perhaps you want to argue that lately, there has been a lot of discussion about a certain topic in the media. In that case, citing a couple of magazine or newspaper articles for illustration is very much okay.

Perhaps you want to make the case that people have lately become very active in their personal blogs and websites in discussing certain matters. In that case, please do throw some examples my way for illustration. However, make it explicit that you are citing a blog post. Don’t just hide your blogpost writer’s name within the parentheses, making it look like you are quoting a scientific paper. Why not? If there is no ethical or professional no-no reason coming to your mind right now, at least you should know that I often trace my students’ references and if I find a Master’s thesis or a blog hiding in the reference list, I will take this up for discussion.

How to Use References Properly in Your Thesis: A Summary

Using references properly is not some boring exercise of secondary importance that you just need to suffer through to make a decent thesis. Reference use is about documenting a very important process, that of reading previous literature that is relevant to your thesis and showing which researchers have contributed to this earlier knowledge. You are also helping your reader to understand the state of the art in research about a particular topic.

Keep in mind that your implied reader is not your supervisor, but a fellow student who might be doing their own research on a similar topic. You will make your reader very happy by helping them spot new and interesting research that is important for their own work. That happiness will be very short-lived in case the author you claim wrote something actually wrote nothing like that at all or is not a researcher but a journalist writing an opinionated op-ed. Making sure you know how to use references properly in your thesis is a service you do not only for yourself but also to all those who might be reading your work in years to come!

In case you want to understand more about how the supervisory process works (with me, at least) you can check out this post . To find out more about how to manage your citations and reference list, you can go to this blog post of a fellow professor . When you have your references straight and are ready to give a talk about your study, perhaps these tips on how to make a nice presentation are of interest.

Featured photo by Kaitlyn Baker via Unsplash.

References in Research – Types, Examples and Writing Guide

Table of Contents

References play a crucial role in academic and scientific research, providing credibility to the work by acknowledging the sources of information, theories, or data used. Proper referencing helps readers locate the original sources, demonstrates the depth of research conducted, and avoids plagiarism. This article explores the types of references, practical examples, and a detailed guide on writing references effectively.

References in Research

In research, references are a list of sources that the author has cited or consulted during the preparation of a study, paper, or thesis. These sources can include books, journal articles, websites, conference papers, and more. References ensure transparency and enable others to verify or explore the cited material further.

For example, a research paper on climate change may reference peer-reviewed articles, government reports, and datasets that provide evidence for its claims.

Types of References

References in research can be categorized based on the type of source cited. Understanding these types ensures proper citation and formatting.

Books are often cited for foundational theories, historical context, or comprehensive treatments of a subject.

Example : Smith, J. (2018). Introduction to Environmental Science . Oxford University Press.

2. Journal Articles

Journal articles provide peer-reviewed research, which is considered reliable and authoritative.

Example : Brown, P., & Taylor, K. (2020). “Impact of Urbanization on Biodiversity.” Ecological Studies , 34(3), 245–260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolstud.2020.03.001

3. Conference Papers

Conference papers are presented at academic conferences and often include the latest research findings.

Example : Johnson, R. (2021). “Machine Learning Applications in Healthcare.” Proceedings of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence , 45–50.

4. Websites and Online Sources

Websites are commonly used for up-to-date information, official data, and reports.

Example : World Health Organization. (2023). “COVID-19 Vaccination Statistics.” Retrieved from https://www.who.int/covid19/vaccines

5. Theses and Dissertations

Citations of theses or dissertations acknowledge in-depth research on specific topics.

Example : Patel, A. (2019). The Effects of Social Media on Adolescent Mental Health (Master’s thesis). University of California, Berkeley.

Reports are often published by governments, NGOs, or international organizations.

Example : United Nations. (2022). Global Water Crisis Report . United Nations Publications.

7. Datasets

Datasets are cited when using numerical or raw data for analysis.

Example : National Bureau of Economic Research. (2021). US GDP Growth Data, 1990–2020 [Data file]. Retrieved from https://www.nber.org

8. Multimedia Sources

Multimedia sources, such as videos, podcasts, and images, are cited in research when relevant.

Example : Khan, A. (Director). (2021). The Rise of Renewable Energy [Film]. EcoVision Productions.

9. Software and Tools

Software or computational tools used in research are cited to acknowledge their role.

Example : R Core Team. (2022). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing [Computer software]. Retrieved from https://www.r-project.org

Examples of References in Popular Citation Styles

Different academic fields use specific citation styles, each with its unique format for referencing sources. Below are examples in three common styles:

1. APA (7th Edition)

Book : Johnson, L. (2020). Digital Transformation in Business . Springer.
Journal Article : Lee, M., & Carter, J. (2021). “Big Data Analytics in Retail.” Journal of Business Research , 128, 25–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.08.015

2. MLA (9th Edition)

Book : Johnson, Laura. Digital Transformation in Business . Springer, 2020.
Journal Article : Lee, Michael, and Jennifer Carter. “Big Data Analytics in Retail.” Journal of Business Research , vol. 128, 2021, pp. 25–35, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.08.015.

3. Chicago (Author-Date)

Book : Johnson, Laura. 2020. Digital Transformation in Business . Berlin: Springer.
Journal Article : Lee, Michael, and Jennifer Carter. 2021. “Big Data Analytics in Retail.” Journal of Business Research 128: 25–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.08.015.

Writing Guide for References

Follow these steps to create accurate and comprehensive references for your research paper:

Step 1: Collect Source Information

Keep track of the sources you consult during research. Include details such as:

Title of the work
Year of publication
Publisher or journal name
Volume and issue (for articles)
DOI, URL, or other access information

Step 2: Choose the Appropriate Citation Style

Select a citation style based on the requirements of your field or journal. Common styles include:

APA : Common in psychology, education, and social sciences.
MLA : Preferred in humanities.
Chicago : Used in history, arts, and some social sciences.
IEEE : Popular in engineering and technical fields.

Step 3: Follow Formatting Rules

Adhere to the specific formatting guidelines for your chosen citation style. Pay attention to:

Order of elements (e.g., author name, title, publication year).
Punctuation and capitalization rules.
Use of italics or quotation marks for titles.

Step 4: Use Citation Management Tools

Leverage tools like Zotero, EndNote, or Mendeley to organize references and generate citations automatically.

Step 5: Review and Cross-Check

Double-check all references for accuracy. Ensure every in-text citation matches a corresponding entry in the reference list.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Referencing

Missing Sources : Ensure that every in-text citation appears in the reference list and vice versa.
Incorrect Format : Failing to follow the style guide can lead to errors and confusion.
Outdated Sources : Use recent and credible sources, especially in fast-evolving fields.
Overuse of Secondary Sources : Always cite original sources whenever possible.
Inconsistent Style : Maintain consistency in formatting throughout the reference list.

Benefits of Proper Referencing

Credibility : Demonstrates thorough research and reliance on credible sources.
Ethical Integrity : Prevents plagiarism by giving credit to original authors.
Transparency : Allows readers to verify and explore the cited material.
Improved Readability : Organizes supporting evidence systematically for better comprehension.

References are an essential component of research papers, ensuring academic integrity and enabling readers to trace the origins of information. By understanding the types of references, following proper formatting guidelines, and using citation tools, researchers can create accurate and reliable reference lists. Whether using APA, MLA, or Chicago style, meticulous referencing enhances the quality and credibility of scholarly work.

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). APA.
Modern Language Association. (2021). MLA Handbook (9th ed.). MLA.
University of Chicago Press. (2017). The Chicago Manual of Style (17th ed.). University of Chicago Press.
Cite Them Right. (2022). The Essential Referencing Guide . Macmillan Education.
Perrin, R. (2020). Pocket Guide to APA Style (7th ed.). Cengage Learning.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer