General regulations

If you refer to the same source repeatedly, you can abbreviate it from the second short reference onward with “ibid.” (ibidem). This reference always refers to the most recently cited source. Changed page numbers are indicated e.g. as follows: (ibid., p. 44).

Academic titles, honorary titles, or professional titles (such as e.g. Prof. Dr.) are not included in the short reference.

It is not impolite but rather standard practice not to mention authors’ first names in the text. Under no circumstances should forms of address such as “Mr.” or “Ms.” be used.

There are hundreds of different citation styles that vary by discipline, publication, and personal preferences. The following explains the citation style developed specifically for the Faculty of Social Sciences: “Faculty SW”.

This is a citation style that uses short references in the text. It is based on the “Guidelines for Manuscript Preparation” of the German Psychological Society [DGPs] (2007), which largely correspond to the internationally established regulations of the American Psychological Association (APA).

Instead of an in-text short reference, you can alternatively use a short reference in footnotes. Discuss specific questions about using footnotes directly with your supervisors, e.g. regarding the use of long references. Otherwise, the recommendations presented here for short references apply.

If you do not cite a source, it is assumed that the facts or arguments presented in the text are either your own thoughts or undisputed basic knowledge in the field. For example, you do not have to prove that resocialization or experiential education are fields of social work.

Individual authors

The short reference essentially contains three elements: the authors’ last names, the year of publication, and the relevant page numbers. If no page numbers are given in the publication or they are not relevant, indicating the year of publication is sufficient. If the authors are already mentioned in the same sentence, you do not need to repeat them in the short reference.

Examples:

In Thiersch (1986), everyday life is the starting point for his theory of life-world-oriented social work.

Life-world orientation in social work refers to people’s everyday lives (Thiersch, 1986).

Corporate authors

Institutions, organizations, associations, and companies can take the place of authors in source references. These are called corporate authors. If it is common for the institution to use an abbreviation, you may do so. In this case, provide the full name followed by the abbreviation in square brackets on first reference. For subsequent mentions, the abbreviation is sufficient. In the reference list, use the full name.

Examples:

First mention of the corporate author: (Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs [BMAS], 1999)

Subsequent mentions of the corporate author: (BMAS, 1999)

Mention of the corporate author in the reference list: Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs [BMAS] (1999)

Incomplete information

Sometimes the necessary information is incomplete. Especially for online documents, the date, authors, or page numbers may be missing. Naturally, you can only provide what is available. If authors are missing, the responsible organization (association, institution, publisher) replaces the authors. If the year of publication is missing, you can use the abbreviation “n. d.” (not dated) instead of the year to indicate that this information is not available for this source. Often, you can find the missing information in the website’s imprint.

When using online sources, make sure to use sources where the authors are at least identifiable. Sources without identifiable authors or publishers are only suitable in exceptional cases in academic work.

Example:

(Wildwasser Nürnberg e. V., n. d.)

Two authors

Two authors are connected in the text with the word “and”, whereas in parentheses and tables they are connected with the ampersand (&).

Examples:

According to Grimmer and Neukorn, psychotherapy and coaching “can be placed on a continuum with two poles and a boundary and overlap area in the middle” (2010, p. 47).

They consider it more precise to place psychotherapy and coaching “on a continuum with two poles and a boundary and overlap area in the middle” (Grimmer & Neukorn, 2010, p. 47).

More than two authors

For three to six authors, list all names the first time they appear. For subsequent mentions, list only the first author followed by “et al.” (lat. for “et alii”, eng.: “and others”), the year, and the pages.

Examples:

First mention in text: Müller, Meier, Huber, and Schmidt (2001, p. 12)

First mention in parentheses: (Müller, Meier, Huber & Schmidt, 2001, p. 12)

Subsequent mentions: Müller et al. (2001, p. 13) or (Müller et al., 2001, p. 13)

For more than six authors, list only the first author in the short reference, followed by et al., the year, and the pages.

Examples:

Full reference: Huelmann, Thorben; Ferdinand, Hanna; Gebauer, Miriam; McElvany, Nele; Bos, Wilfried; Köller, Olaf & Schöber, Christian (2014): Accuracy of teachers’ judgments regarding students’ self-efficacy beliefs. In: Heinz Günter Holtappels, Ariane Willems, Michael Pfeifer, Wilfried Bos & Nele McElvany (Vol.): Yearbook of School Development, eds. 18. Data, examples, and perspectives (pp. 298–320). Weinheim: Juventa.

Short reference in text: Huelmann et al. (2014) examine the accuracy of teachers’ judgments regarding their students’ self-efficacy beliefs.

Quotes spanning multiple pages

If a direct or indirect quote in the original text spans more than one page, indicate this with “f.” for the next page or “ff.” for several following pages. This is added directly after the page number without a space. Alternatively, you can specify the exact page range. If the relevant passage spans more than three pages, always indicate the first and last page.

Examples:

Each statement contains four aspects: factual content, appeal, self-revelation, and relationship (Schulz von Thun, 1981, p. 25ff.).

The four-phase model of grief according to Kast is presented in the following (1982, pp. 20–27).

Direct quotes

There are two types of quotes: direct (verbatim) and indirect. For both types, always provide a reference indicating the source.

For direct quotes, you reproduce the original text exactly in your writing. This is indicated using quotation marks and a short reference. Use direct quotes sparingly, only when the wording in the source is particularly original or concise.

Example:

“Working with other people’s academic texts is more than just putting quotation marks in the right place” (Pohl, 2007, p. 295).

If the direct quote contains a mistake, indicate it with “[sic!]” (lat.: “thus”) to show the error was in the original.

Example:

“With work 40. [sic!] everything changes: The world of work is transformed by Big Data, Cloud Computing, and robots” (Mustermann, 2017, p. 24).

Omissions and grammatical changes in direct quotes must be marked with […] unless the omission occurs at the very beginning of the quote.

Omissions and additions can make sentences less understandable. Always check carefully whether it is truly necessary and useful to omit or add anything.

Example:

Kohl concludes that “the deliberate intention to ‘cheat’ […] was only [sic!] recognizable in exceptional cases” (2001, p. 168f.).

Long direct quotes are rarely necessary. If used, for quotes longer than 40 words, a special, space-saving format is recommended: Set the quote as a single block with indentation on both sides. Do not italicize, as this reduces readability. Quotation marks may be omitted in block quotes but may also be used.

Ensure that the formatting clearly identifies the text as a direct quote. A short reference after the quote is mandatory. Importantly, integrate the content of the quote into your own text and refer to it.

Indirect quotes

In indirect (paraphrased) quotes, you take ideas from other texts but put them in your own words. Academic works usually contain far more indirect than direct quotes. Indirect quotes must also include a reference.

Example:

Experiences with voluntary self-monitoring show that students generally reject plagiarism, but their texts often still contain citation errors (Kohl, 2001, p. 168f.).

When paraphrasing longer passages, you don’t need to repeat the source constantly. However, it must always be clear whose arguments you are referring to in your academic work.

It’s best to make it clear through your wording that the short reference applies to a longer section.

Example:

The qualitative method of group discussion was developed to capture the dynamic formation of opinions (Lamnek, 2005, p. 103). According to Lamnek, it is characterized by a detailed guide. Questions are prepared in advance and an order is established in which various topics are discussed. I applied this method in a modified form in this bachelor thesis. For example, the group members completed an online survey about their living situation in advance.

In this example, the wording and reference make it clear that the first three sentences reproduce Lamnek’s description, and the fourth sentence begins the author’s own position.

More on longer indirect quotes can be found in this article: Longer indirect quotes in social sciences.

Citing laws

When citing laws or other legal norms for the first time in the text, provide the official title and abbreviation, e.g. “Civil Code (BGB)”. When the same law is mentioned again in the text, the following applies:

• If the law stands alone, without a paragraph or article, write out the full name, e.g.: “Civil Code”.
• If a paragraph or article is cited, after the first full mention, use the short form, e.g.: “§ 1626 BGB”.

When citing the current version of a law, no additional source information is needed – the law does not need to appear in the bibliography. Do not cite the work from which you took the law. For more details, e.g., older versions, see the article Citing laws.

Example:

The definition of “youth” in the Social Code (SGB) is narrowly defined as 14 to 18 years (§7 para. 1 no. 2 SGB VIII). Up to age 27, the term “young adult” applies (§7 para. 1 no. 3 SGB VIII).

Common mistakes

• Your text consists of a string of paraphrased or direct quotes
• Quotes are missing or incorrectly cited
• You rely on a single source (possibly even Wikipedia …) despite a broad academic discourse on the topic

Frequently asked questions

Der Beitrag Citing in Social Sciences erschien zuerst auf Online Writing Lab.

General regulations

Basically, when you quote indirectly, the extent of the quote must be clearly indicated – that is, it must be clear where the quote begins and ends. It is usually not sufficient to simply list the source at the end of a paragraph or chapter.

If you do not cite a source, it is assumed that it is either undisputed basic knowledge in this field or your own thoughts.

If you quote longer passages from a source, it would be correct but not necessarily elegant or common to repeat the source after every sentence. Therefore, the following shows some additional options.

With explicit reference

In the text, in the short reference, or in the footnote, you indicate that your quote refers to a longer passage:

At the end of the paraphrased passages, you include the short reference again, e.g.: (Müller et al. 2012, p. 11ff.). This clearly marks the extent.

Through formulation

You can also make it clear through your wording that the short reference refers to a longer passage.

In this example, it is clear through wording and source citation that the first three sentences reproduce Lamnek’s description, and in the fourth sentence the author’s own position begins (“… I applied this in this bachelor thesis …”).

By naming the authors

You can repeatedly mention the authors so that it is clear in the text that these are not your own thoughts.

Literature: Pohl, Thorsten (2007): Studies on the ontogenesis of scientific writing. Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 493.

Frequently asked questions

Der Beitrag Long Indirect Quotes in the Social Sciences erschien zuerst auf Online Writing Lab.

General guidelines

Basically, when you paraphrase, the extent of the citation must be clear, meaning it must be obvious where the quotation begins and ends. It is usually not enough to just mention the source at the end of a paragraph or chapter.

If you do not mention a source, it is assumed that it either represents undisputed basic knowledge in this field or your own thoughts.

When citing longer passages from a source, it would be correct, but not necessarily elegant, to repeat the source after every sentence. Below we show some alternative ways.

With explicit indication

You make it clear in the text, in the short reference, or in a footnote that your citation refers to a longer passage:

At the end of the passage, you then include the short reference again, e.g., (Müller et al. 2012, p. 11ff.). This clearly marks the extent of the citation.

By positioning the source reference

You can indicate that the short reference refers to a longer passage by placing it at the end of the paragraph after the final punctuation mark.

Contrary to the initial explanation, some lecturers are fine with adding a source only at the end of a paragraph after the final punctuation, which then applies to the whole paragraph.

If the source refers only to one sentence, it should be placed before the period. If it refers to an entire paragraph, the footnote comes after the period. To mark the beginning of a paraphrase, explicit indications and formulations in the text are useful (see above).

Frequently asked questions

Der Beitrag Long Indirect Quotations erschien zuerst auf Online Writing Lab.