Accurate Documentation of Sources

A list of references at the end of your document is not enough.

Background:
In engineering, design ideas are always based in someone's earlier work, so documenting sources is important to put your work in context. It serves two important purposes: 

• proving you have some authority to back up your idea.
• giving appropriate credit to someone else for their ideas. 

 

TWO KEY CONCEPTS

Documentation involves two parts: the Citation and the Reference List. 

The Citation is a short code (in the middle of your document) that identifies an idea or fact as borrowed from somewhere. Whenever you refer to information, you must identify the source right then and there, so that your reader knows exactly what information comes from which source. 

The Reference List provides the complete information on each source at the end of the document. This is sometimes called a bibliography, but unlike a formal bibliography, a reference list includes only works to which you refer.
 

WHAT THIS SITE OFFERS

This website provides detailed information on the following documentation issues -- with lots of examples: 

• Principles of Documentation: What, When. and Why
• Plagiarism
• Principles of Citation 
• Basic Examples 
• Working Citations into your Text 
• Principles of Referencing
• General Reference Templates 
• Sample References

We cover the two most common documentation styles used in Engineering. Select whichever one is more appropriate to your field: 
 

AUTHOR-DATE STYLE	IEEE
Based on Chicago Manual of Style Used in Civil, Chemical, Industrial and Mechanical Engineering.	Standard Numerical Method Used in Electrical, Computer, and Mechanical Engineering.

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