Citations and References

What are citations and references (also called 'documentation')? Why bother doing them? When to you need them? How do you do them? Here is some information to help answer these questions.

What are citations?

As you write your FYP report, it is important to cite (give credit to) your information sources throughout your report. Here are two examples:

According to one technical writing expert, even though IEEE is the most difficult style to learn, it is still the most valuable style for aspiring engineers to pick up [1].

As of June 2009, the Hong Kong Government Wi-Fi Programme (GovWiFi) already provided free wireless Internet access services at about 350 government premises [2].

[Note that citations go inside the punctuation.]

What is a reference list?

Your reference list (also called a “list of works cited”) comes after the body of your report and contains a complete list of all the sources (articles, books, journals, web pages, etc.) that you have cited directly in your report. A reference list is different from a bibliography, which contains all sources used in writing a document, whether they are directly cited or not. Here are two examples:

[1] D. Jones, Technical Writing Style. Toronto: Allyn and Bacon, 1998.
[2] GovHK, (2009, Sept.). Government Wi-Fi Programme (GovWiFi). [Online].
Available: http://www.gov.hk/en/theme/wifi/program/index.htm

When should I use a citation?

You must provide citations in the text whenever you paraphrase and/or summarize someone else's ideas and when you use a direct quote. Usually, you should paraphrase or summarize unless the quote is especially memorable.

Why should I include citations and references in my paper?

They are required by the HKUST CSE Dept. in all FYP proposals, progress reports and final reports.
You have a duty to the traditions of scholarship and good science to include them in your report. Otherwise, your team will look like a bunch of amateurs, and your work will be discredited.
They add value to your paper and make you look knowledgeable. They give your ideas authority by providing evidence.
To omit them is plagiarism (抄襲;剽竊)- the academic equivalent to robbery!

Which reference style should I use?

From a survey about FYP report preferences, almost all HKUST CSE professors will accept the IEEE reference style. Most prefer this style. A couple like APA, which is very similar to IEEE. If you are not sure what style your FYP advisor wants, then take a look at the survey results.

Notes

If your FYP advisor gives you some articles to read for your project, make sure you understand them very well and try to cite them in your paper.
If you are still not sure what to do and need help, contact your communication tutor or a librarian.
'References' ends in an 's'
In your FYP reports, the title of the section at the end should be "References" (not "References and Citations".)
If no author is given, start with the title.
For internet sources, include both the date of publication and the date you accessed the article.
For information from Wikipedia, be careful! Although most Wikipedia information is very useful and accurate, much is difficult to verify, and the sources of some statements are simply unknown. (See Problems of Wikipedia.) Also, some FYP advisors do not like Wikipedia for references. (See FYP Advisor Preferences.) To be safe, it's better to use academic journals or other respected sources. Sometimes, you can find good links to these from Wikipedia web pages.