How and why do I cite? Which citation style should i choose? What should my citation look like, and is my bibliography correct? This page gives you information and useful links to answer these questions.
It is important to cite all sources in your academic writing. This means you acknowledge the work of others and will keep you from getting caught plagiarising.
You must choose a citation style to use throughout your text. The citation style dictates the rules you need to follow for in-text citation and your bibliography. The most used citation style at UiS is American Psychological Association (APA).
There are several useful softwares that can keep track of your sources and help you insert citations and bibliography in your preferred citation style. The library offers classes in Zotero and Endnote. These are good tools, but they will not do all the work for you. You must always check your sources to make sure they are correct before using them.
Is this a scholarly article? Is the author credible? Is the source still current?
Source evaluation is essential, and these are some of the questions you need to ask when you are writing an academic text. You are always responsible for all sources used in your text.
The Citation Compass has information and check lists to help you with source evaluation.
There are many useful pages that can help you with citing. Here are our recommendations!
Plagiarism is when you consciously or otherwise use someone else's text or work as your own, without crediting the author or revealing your source.
You avoid plagiarism by clearly showing what is written in your own words and thoughts, and what you have taken from other writers. You do this by marking the citation clearly and correct both in the text and in the bibliography.
The University of Stavanger has rules against cheating and plagiarism. We recommend that you become familiar with them. The consequences of plagiarism can be failing your exams and being excluded from your studies for up to a year.
Do you have questions about citing? Contact the library via email or phone, or drop by our help desk during staffed hours.
Email: ub@uis.no
Phone: 0047 51 83 11 00
Use EndNote or Zotero to manage your references
The library offers classes in the reference management tools Zotero and Endnote.
Library Classes
Check out our course calendar to find a time that suits you.
EndNote
Import and manage your references
Zotero
Free reference managment for both Mac and PC
EndNote or Zotero?
Find out about the differences, and what will suit your needs.
EndNote and Zotero are reference management tools. These tools are good for organizing literature for your studies or research. You build up a reference library by importing literature from e.g. databases. From the library you can insert references into a text document like Word. EndNote and Zotero help you format citations and the bibliography. There are numerous tool like EndNote and Zotero that can be used. Some of them require a subscription fee and and others are free. As a student or employee at UiS, you will get access to EndNote. Zotero is free to download.
The University Library offers introduction courses to both programs. We recommend to attend these if you want to get started using one of the programs. You can find information about the library courses here.
We have also developed help pages in Canvas, to both EndNote and Zotero.
Which program should you choose?
There is not a definitive answer to this. Overall, the programs have the same functions. However, there are still some differences and some functionalities that is good to be aware of. Sometimes one program is more suited than the other.
- Both programs are compatible with PC and Mac.
- Zotero is known to be slightly easlier to use, while EndNote has some advanced functions that Zotero does not have.
- Will you write an assignment/thesis together with a fellow student? For this, Zotero is most optimal.
- Are you going to write together with your supervisor or collaboratoris outside UiS? Figure out which program he/she/they are using and use the same as them.
- If you work on different devices, Zotero is easier to synchronize.
- Are you starting on systematic searches? Then we recommend EndNote.
- Do you need to make changes or customize a reference style? This is easier to do in EndNote.
- Zotero has a Connector placed in the browser. The Connector allows you to import many types of sources directly from the browser. In EndNote, you more often need to add different types of sources manually.
- Are you writing in LaTeX? As a student or employee at the Faculty of Science and Technology, you automatically get access to the premium version of Overleaf. Then you have the possibility to automatically synchronize your Zotero library with Overleaf.
- You can store full-text articles (PDF-files) in your library. As a student or employee at UiS and an EndNote user, you have unlimited storage capacity. Zotero offers free storage up to 300MB. If you need more than that you must pay a small amount annually.
Not sure yet about which program to choose? Discuss with your supervisor/teacher, or simply just test out one of the programs. You always have the possibility to switch to the other afterwards by exporting the library from Zotero to EndNote or vice versa.
