While citation
generators are a relatively new tool for writers, it has revolutionized
writing. Painstakingly documenting every source used for a research paper is an
unsurmountable task and often took up large chunks of time that could have been
used to research more efficiently. Moreover, citing sources in different
formats is taxing. You have to remember the rules of every form separately and
apply them without error. Citation generators have made the work much more
convenient for us. Merely adding the article's link cited on a citation
generator and selecting the citation format will generate a citation for you in
only seconds. Whether online or on MS-word, a citation generator can create the
whole bibliography with just a few clicks, a task that used to take ages.
Citation generators
are efficient and powerful and have altered how we write so dramatically that
we educate ourselves about using them. Used carefully, with discretion, it
makes writing more manageable and less tedious; however, used carelessly, it
can use systematic errors that may pass unnoticed.
How Do Citation
Generators Work?
Citation generators
are programs that turn information about a source into a citation that you can
use. Most citation generators work following a similar process:
1. The generator receives information
about a source from you. The generator can obtain information in two ways:
a. Information about the source typed
in by you
b. A URL is copied and pasted by you
from which the citation generator retrieves the sources itself.
2. The generator processes this
information according to the settings you specify.
3. The generator produces a citation
(or set of citations) that you can use.
Source:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/using_citation_machines_responsibly.html
How to use Citation
Generators properly?
You may ensure that
you are using a citation generator correctly in the following ways:
1.
Make sure
to provide accurate information.
No citation generator
can function correctly despite user errors, therefore if you input incorrect
information into a citation generator you will receive an incorrect citation.
The citation generator cannot bypass your errors, therefore make sure you input
the information correctly.
2.
Spell the
author's name correctly. Subtle things like capitalization and punctuation can
also matter.
3.
Make sure
you designate the correct medium, version, and edition for each source.
Citation generators
can't judge whether the information they receive about a source "makes
sense." They can't tell, for instance, if you're accidentally citing an
academic journal article as a magazine article (and thus likely leaving out
important information like volume number). Therefore, to avoid unnecessary
confusion, double-check that you've indicated precisely the source you're using
(and not a source that's "close, but no cigar").
4.
Make sure
to use reputable, accurate sources.
Citation generators
work with the sources you give them. They can't evaluate whether those sources
are right or not. To avoid this, be sure to assess whether each source you use
is accurate, reputed, and unbiased. Make sure:
• Your source is source
peer-reviewed.
• You are using a primary source
(i.e., directly from the person providing the information, if it is a secondary
source, make sure the author is referencing primary sources when possible.
• Judge whether the source comes from
an organization with a vested interest in having an unbiased, authoritative
reputation.
• The source references clear,
unambiguous evidence. This evidence well-documented (for instance, in a
bibliography).
• The source acknowledges a range of
viewpoints even as it makes its argument.
• The source does not use
emotionally-charged language or make broad generalizations.
• The source does not come from a lone
individual, particularly an individual without a reputation for careful,
objective, or well-reasoned claims (or a motivation to preserve that
reputation).
• The source is commercially
sponsored. Does the sponsor have a vested interest in the audience's perception
of the source's topic?
5.
Double-check
the citation you receive against a reference.
After you've finished
inputting information and you've received a citation, resist the urge to copy
and paste the source into your document without first doing a quick check for
accuracy.
• Pay particular attention to the way
the generator has handled capitalization and formatting.
o Note, for instance, that there are
different rules for capitalizing titles in MLA and APA styles.
o Note also that different types handle
numbering differently. For example, some require page ranges to include all
numbers in the start and end pages (e.g., 267-268). Others allow the omission
of redundant numbers(e.g., 267-8).
• If you couldn't find any
information (e.g., date), check to
ensure that the information has been left out and not rendered as a generic
placeholder (e.g., "[DATE]").
6.
Make sure
you cite each source in the text in a way that makes sense.
Remember that
bibliographies are not the end of the story when it comes to citations. You
should also use citations in the text when you borrow information from a
source.
• Here is an example. Suppose you
would like to cite a chapter by the author Jane Smith. You input the source's
bibliographic information into the citation generator; you indicate that you're
using APA style, and you get the following in-text citation:
o (Smith, 2015, pp. 122-128)
• Now, you want to use this citation
in the text, so you copy and paste it into a sentence where you're borrowing
from Smith's source:
o According to Smith, the world's
first pies were developed by the ancient Egyptians (Smith, 2015, pp. 122-128),
while later innovations were spearheaded by the Macedonians (Smith, 2015, pp.
122-128).
• The uncritical copying and pasting
you've just done have led you to make a few mistakes in your citation. When you
provide the author's name in a signal phrase (like "According to
Smith…"), you usually should not give it again in the parenthetical. You
also should not provide a source's date multiple times in the same sentence.
Finally, you should not provide vague page ranges when it's possible to
pinpoint precisely where you found the information you're borrowing. The
citation generator cannot judge the context of the sentence you're using the
citation in, so it can't tell you to do any of these things. A much more
sensible approach would look like this:
·
According
to Smith (2015), the world's first pies were developed by the ancient Egyptians
(p. 123), while later innovations were spearheaded by the Macedonians (p. 127).
Common Errors in
Citations from Citation Generators
While these are useful
tools to get started with your citations, it is vital to check that these are
correct as none of them are always 100% accurate. Common errors found in citations from these
generators include:
1. Mis-capitalization of information
2. Can be either over or under
capitalizing
3. Citing a source as the wrong type of
source
4. Many sources get cited as webpages
when they are not. For example, you may find newspapers through the internet,
but they are still newspapers, not webpages
5. Leaving out information
6. Inclusion of information that is
unnecessary
For example,
Including newspaper,
date ranges from library databases as part of the newspaper title, ex: New York
Times (1851-2012)
When both a publisher
and name for a website are required, putting the same name twice, ex: WebMD,
WebMD.com
If no named author, creating a name, ex: Reporters, Telegraph
