Importance of references in papers
Hi everyone,
Sorry for the gap between this publication and the last one, but the subject of the COVID-19 pandemic has kept me busy personally and professionally.
Today my intention is to emphasize the importance of referencing in a correct and precise manner. Not referencing our sources is plagiarism: we always have to keep that in mind. And the thing is that it should be like that, since presenting the work from another person as own is not fair. This necessity becomes even more important in papers, since all new discoveries and invetions are based in other scientists’ work.
To better ilustrate the importance of referencing I have chosen a couple of articles related to the topic of my thesis: Tidal Energy.
- E. Segura, R. Morales, J.A. Somolinos and A. López, “Techno-economic challenges of tidal energy conversion systems: Current status and trends,” Elsevier, Renewable and Sustainable Reviews, vol. 77, pp. 536–550, 2017.
This research presents a huge study supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad under Research Grants DPI2014-53499-R. With 181 references, it is a perfect example of referencing in an appropriate manner.Taking into account that the article was published in 2017, it is remarkable that the references are very recent, being the oldest one from 2008. This makes sense due to the little research and background available regarding Tidal Energy even today.
It is also remarkable that most of the references (106) are concentrated in the first 2 chapters: 1. Introduction and motivation and 2. Tidal Energy Converters Vision”, the 2 chapters corresponding to the Introduction in the so well stablished IMRAD structure. This makes sense, since the presentation of the state of the art requires more references than our particular research.
- Penny Jeffcoate, Ralf Starzmann, Bjoern Elsaesser, Stefan Scholl, Sarah Bischoff, “Field measurements of a full scale tidal turbine,” Elsevier, International Journal of Marine Energy, vol. 12, pp. 3–20, 2015.
In cotrast to the previous case, here we can only find 16 references, since it is a more practical experioment where only the measurement data of a hydroturbine is collected without going in depth. Most of the references appear in the first 3 chapters (1. Introduction, 2. Site and test conditions and 3. Investigated turbine design), which again correspond to the Introduction in the IMRAD structure. The references are again recent, being the oldest one from 2012.
CONCLUSIONS
Both papers presented here follow a very rigorous scheme regarding the references. Before publishing a scientific article it is important to check which styles are accepted and/or recommended. In these 2 articles, the IEEE citation style is used, since it is the one required in Elsevier articles.
As always, in case you have any doubt, I would be pleased to help you with it via Email or LinkedIn.