Introduction

The intricate matter of referencing past work is one of the key distinguishing features of research
writing or academic writing from other kinds of writing.

Referring to past work is important to...

 give credit to others for their work

 add credibility to your work by showing that you used valid information sources
 help show how your work is related to previous work
 help readers find further information
 avoid plagiarism and write ethically

Presentation
Consider this sentence:

"When it comes to scientific measures, the journal impact factor wins both in terms of broadest
use and as the most loathed metric1,2."

Source: "Beware the impact factor." Nat. Mater 12.89.10 (2013): 1038.

The numbers "1" and "2" at the end of the sentence are citations. These numbers correspond to
the first and second entries in the reference list of the above article (screenshot below):

The words "citation" and "reference" are sometimes used interchangeably. Nevertheless, in a
research paper, both in-text citations and a list of references corresponding to those citations are
required.

Citing abstracts?
Consider this scenario:

Pedra is a researcher who is aware of the importance of including references in her paper. During
her research project, she referred to a lot of published papers. However, in many cases, she read
only the abstract of papers because she found what she needed in the abstract itself. Can she cite
a paper based on just the abstract?
Answers

Option 1

Yes

Option 2

No

Feedback

That's correct. It's inappropriate to cite a paper based on the abstract alone. The abstract may not
convey the intricacies or caveats of the work. Pedra should cite only those papers she has fully
read.

Some researchers in developing countries face difficulties in accessing the full text of papers,
and they may be tempted to cite a "pay-walled" paper based on the abstract alone. But that's not a
good idea. Revisit the lesson on accessing research publications if you're ever in doubt about
what you can do in this situation.

Placement of citations
Which of the following is a better way of citing references?

Answers

Option 1

This disease has been reported in humans (Tuda and Appiah, 2006), dogs (Xie and Lozano,
2008), and rabbits and squirrels (Flores, 2012).

Option 2

This disease has been reported in humans, dogs, rabbits, and squirrels (Tuda and Appiah, 2006;
Xie and Lozano, 2008; Flores, 2012).

Feedback

That's correct. If you're citing multiple references for a statement, it's best to indicate which part
of your statement is supported by which reference.
Reference management software
Organising and formatting references can be a time-consuming task. To make things easier, look
into using reference management software such as Mendeley and Zotero. Both these applications
are available free of cost.

With such software, you can maintain a database of references, and you can include citations and
references in the proper format for your target journal.

For more information, see this Wikipedia page.

Tables and figures

A table or figure in a scientific research paper is different from a table or figure you might see in
an educational textbook or a document meant for the general public.

In a textbook, a table or figure may be used to clarify or summarize something presented in the
text. On the other hand, in a research paper, every table or figure must present something new.

Also, textbooks or other documents meant for the general public may contain simple-looking
tables and figures. In a research paper, the design of a table or figure can be somewhat intricate.

Tables
First, let's look at the key characteristics of tables. Try selecting the true statements in the list
below.

Answers

Option 1

1. Tables should be used to present data in a structured format

Correct

Option 2

2. Tables should be used to emphasize data, even if there is only a little data to presented

Incorrect

Option 3
3. Every table must be numbered

Correct

Option 4

4. The information in every table should be repeated in the text of the paper

Incorrect

Option 5

5. Every table must be referred to in the text of the paper

Correct

Option 6

6. Columns within a table must have headings, preferably with units if there is scientific data in
those columns

Correct

Option 7

7. Footnotes may be used to explain information in the table

Correct

Option 8

8. Phrases such as "as shown in the table above" are appropriate to use in the text of the paper

Incorrect

Feedback

Statements 1, 3, 5, 6, and 7 are true. However, an exception for statement 3 is when there is only
one table in the paper. In this case, some journals refer to it just as Table, without a number.

Statement 2 is false: If a table can be explained in a single sentence, the table is probably not
necessary. Do not present very small tables. Use text instead.
Statement 4 is false: You should not repeat the information given in a table. Instead, refer to the
table in the text to support your statements or analysis.

Statement 8 is false: You should refer to the table number, for example, "Table 1", and not its
location. Also, phrases such as "as shown in the table..." are wordy and unnecessary. Instead,
write "Table 1 shows..." or refer to the table within parentheses.

Figures
Now let's go over figures.

In a scientific research paper, a figure can be any of the following:

 Graphs / charts / plots (bar graphs, line graphs, scatter plots, box plots, etc.)
 Diagrams (schematics of experimental setups, electrical circuits, chemical compound
structures, etc.)
 Flowcharts
 Images acquired using instruments such as microscopes
 Photographs
 Maps
 Other types of visual information

Software for figures

For designing and editing tables, a word processor (such as MS Word), spreadsheet tool (such as
MS Excel), or typesetting system (such as LaTeX) is usually sufficient.

But when it comes to figures, you may need to use specialized software.

For visualizing and analyzing data, R is an excellent application. It is free and open source
software, so anyone can use it. R is especially popular for statistical computing. To learn about
R, see http://www.r-project.org/

Researchers in developing countries may find it beneficial to use R for data analysis if they do
not have access to applications such as Stata and SPSS which have to be purchased. R is very
powerful but may seem a bit difficult to use in the beginning. There are however free online
courses and books on R. Just do an online search!

For image processing, consider using free/open source tools such as GIMP.

If you're looking for a general-purpose diagramming tool, consider using LucidChart.

Common aspects
Here are some common aspects of tables and figures:

 Every table and figure must be able to stand on its own. That is, if a knowledgeable
reader looks at a table or figure without reading anything in the paper, they should be
able to understand it to a reasonable extent. Write clear headings or captions, include the
appropriate units, and design the table or figure for easy reading.

 Every table and figure must be referenced in the text with its number.

 Tables and figures may need to be submitted separately from the body of the paper. That
is, when you are about to submit a paper to a journal, you may have to upload a document
containing the textual content of the paper and then each figure or table separately.