Key points:
- Complete academic citations are a crucial part of the research process
- Campus leadership check-up
- Educator burnout is at an all-time high
- For more news on research, visit eCN’s Campus Leadership hub
While researching the “Paul Revere of the West,” a somewhat shady Frenchman named Cardinal, I came across a comment in a local historical volume printed in anticipation of the 1976 Bicentennial. The anonymous author of the bicentenary volume wrote that Cardinal had been mentioned in a June 1973 issue of the Smithsonian Magazine. Normally, with a full proper citation including the title of the article and a page number, retrieving the article would be fairly simple. However, in that case, no citation was provided. The available index to the Smithsonian Magazine for those years did not include key words, so the index itself was not helpful. The table of contents retrieved through interlibrary loan (ILL) was similarly unhelpful.
As the Smithsonian Magazine was first launched in 1970, it was not widely held by 1973. Therefore, only about five libraries in the state held copies. Ultimately, a visit to a large library was required to search through the back issues of the Smithsonian to find the reference. The Smithsonian article similarly alluded to more information about Cardinal but did not cite its source(s). The search effectively ended at that point since there were no further sources to consult. If the earlier writers had properly cited their sources, it would have been possible to determine why the Smithsonian writer felt Cardinal had a shady background.
We often hear instructors explain that academic writing is not a solitary endeavor, but an ongoing conversation among scholars. Sometimes this is concept is known as the Burkean Parlor or Scholarship as Conversation. This conversation is documented in knowledge base by the use of citations, footnotes, endnotes, or otherwise to link the portions of the conversation together and develop a clear trail of how scholars built their arguments upon the work of those who went before them. Footnotes can trace their origin back to the marginalia in Medieval manuscripts. Grafton’s text on footnotes, The Footnote: A Curious History, points out that footnotes allowed histories to transform from a simple narrative to a critical discipline. Footnotes allowed historians to provide their supportive evidence without breaking up the flow of the narrative itself. The practice of footnotes moved from historians to all areas of knowledge over the next centuries. Chuck Zerby’s The Devil’s Details: A History of Footnotes identifies Richard Jugge, an English printer active from 1550 to 1577, as one potential inventor of the modern footnote by moving the notes in a new version of the Bible uniformly to the bottom of the page.
The foundation of academic integrity and the advancement of knowledge rest significantly on the shoulders of thorough and precise scholarship; this requires accurate citations. For academics in most fields, this responsibility is epitomized in the practice of citing sources through footnotes or parenthetical references. This article delves into the essence of ensuring that footnotes are complete and accurate, highlighting its critical role in the research process and its impact on future scholars. Citations, a bedrock of scholarly work, serve multiple critical functions. They provide verifiable evidence of the research conducted, ensure the original authors are credited for their contributions, and guide readers to additional resources for further exploration.
The task of ensuring that citations are complete and accurate is a critical aspect of academic writing that extends beyond the confines of personal scholarship. It is a duty owed to the academic community and future researchers, ensuring that knowledge is accessible, verifiable, and built on a foundation of trust and integrity. For graduate students, mastering this aspect of research methodology enhances their work and contributes to the larger mosaic of scholarly pursuit, fostering a legacy of thoroughness and accuracy that benefits the academic world for generations to come.
As mentioned in the introduction, inaccurate, incomplete, or missing citations can lead to myriad problems for the academic community. Misattributions or the inability to trace back to original sources can undermine the credibility of the research, lead to accusations of plagiarism, and hinder subsequent research efforts. Accurate and comprehensive footnotes do more than just fulfill a scholarly obligation; they pave the way for future research. By providing a clear and navigable roadmap to sources, researchers enable subsequent scholars to build upon their work, fostering a collaborative environment that propels academic disciplines forward. This section emphasizes the importance of viewing footnotes as a bridge connecting past research with future inquiries.
Ensuring the reliability of citations involves more than a meticulous approach to documentation; it requires an understanding of the best practices in citation. Some practical advice on achieving accuracy and completeness in citations is outlined below.
Utilization of citation management tools
In the digital age, citation management tools have become indispensable for researchers. Platforms such as Zotero, EndNote, and Mendeley simplify the organization of research materials and automate the citation process, ensuring adherence to specific formatting guidelines with ease. These tools offer the following benefits:
- Automated bibliography creation: They generate in-text citations and bibliographies, drastically reducing the risk of errors of omission.
- Organization: These tools allow users to categorize and search through sources efficiently, making it easier to manage large volumes of documents.
- Collaboration: Many citation management tools support collaborative work, enabling shared access to source libraries among collaborators.
By leveraging these tools, researchers can minimize manual errors and streamline the citation process, dedicating more time to other aspects of their work. It should be noted that these tools are not 100 percent accurate in citation formatting and each citation still needs review before inclusion.
Immaterial of the specific citation style used (APA, MLA, University of Chicago), each style has its own set of rules regarding the format of citations and bibliographies. A deep understanding of the chosen citation style is crucial. Consistency in application of a citation style enhances the readability and credibility of a manuscript for future readers.
Citation accuracy
Accuracy of citations is essential, and it is a good idea to have a colleague check citations to ensure accuracy and that they can find each source. One of the reasons for this need is the fluid nature of current information. The dynamic nature of digital content means that URLs can change, and documents may be moved or be removed from websites. These issues make it imperative for researchers to verify the accessibility of their cited sources periodically. Ensuring long-term access to sources involves several strategies:
- Permanent links: Whenever possible, use DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) or persistent URLs when citing online sources, as these are designed to remain unchanged over time.
- Archiving web pages: For sources without a DOI, tools like the Wayback Machine or web archiving services can be used to create and cite a permanent record of a webpage.
- Checking links before publication: Before finalizing a manuscript, it’s wise to check that all cited URLs are still active and that the content remains relevant.
Related to accuracy, researchers should never ask the current generation of generative AI tools to create citations or reference lists. Generative AI tools are notoriously unreliable regarding citation generation. As an academic librarian recently related, he spent an hour searching for a citation for a student before he realized it was generated by AI and didn’t exist. Generative AI is known to hallucinate and generate fake citations. Several academic library blogs including Duke and Southern Methodist University provide more detail on the dangers of using generative AI for documenting scholarly sources.
Achieving accuracy and thoroughness in citations is a cornerstone of academic integrity, requiring a blend of technological tools, knowledge of citation styles, and proactive measures to ensure source accessibility. By embracing these practices, researchers fortify the reliability of their work, paving the way for future academic endeavors built on a foundation of thorough and accountable scholarship. They are continuing a tradition dating back nearly 500 years.
Dr. Steve Baule is a faculty member at Winona State University (WSU), where he teaches in the Leadership Education Department. Prior to joining WSU, Baule spent 28 years in K-12 school systems in Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa, and two years teaching in the University of Wisconsin System. For the 13 years prior to moving to the university level, Baule served as a public -school superintendent. He holds a doctorate in instructional technology from Northern Illinois University and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from Loyola University Chicago.
Dr. Patrick Leeport is an Associate Professor of Library Services at Bemidji State University where he serves as the Research & Instruction Services Librarian. His interests include visual research methods, critical librarianship, and information literacy pedagogy in higher education.
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