Why cite at all?

• To prove facts: You state where your information comes from, ideally tracing it back to the original source. This not only respects copyright but also gives your readers the opportunity to examine methods and details for themselves.

Example: 90 percent of Wikipedia authors are male (Bayer 2013).

• To build on existing knowledge: In academia, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You cite to refer to the ideas, theories, and findings of others – allowing you to continue the discourse rather than starting from scratch.

Example: The term “invention” is often equated with the concepts of “discovery” or “creation” (cf. Müller, 1998, p. 13).

• To keep it concise: If something is already written elsewhere, a reference is usually sufficient. In academic writing, it’s common to trust the audience to either accept the claim or check the source themselves.

Example: Outreach services are a traditional methodological approach in social work. For centuries, almoners would visit people experiencing hardship to assess their needs and provide aid. At the same time, they were tasked with monitoring how the poor lived and preventing abuse of the support system (cf. detailed discussion in Sachße/Tennstedt 1980).

Quotes often serve several purposes at once:

Example: With regard to the use of ocean thermal energy for power generation, research on structural pipes between 1970 and 2000 focused on using water as a heat carrier. Heat transfer and resistance coefficients were measured [6–17]. Companies provided additional measurements using water [18, 19]. A few studies also examined gases as heat carriers [11, 20].

What types of quotations are there?

There are two types of quotations: direct and indirect. In both cases, you must always add a reference to show where the quotation comes from.

With direct quotations, you reproduce the original wording exactly. This is marked with quotation marks and a reference.

Example: “One of the main pioneers of this model is Goffman with his concept of stigma or stigmatization” (Metzler, 2011, p. 101).

Use direct quotations sparingly. In the humanities and social sciences, you should cite directly when the wording is particularly striking or original. In the natural and engineering sciences, direct quotations are rarely used.

With indirect quotes, you take ideas, results, etc. from another text but rephrase them in your own words. These also need a reference.

Example: According to Metzler, Goffman – who developed the concept of stigma or stigmatization – is one of the key early figures of symbolic interactionism (2011, p. 101).

How do I cite?

There are many ways to cite in academic writing: footnotes, in-text references with author names and year of publication, numbers, or combinations of numbers and letters in square brackets.

There’s no single “correct” citation style. What matters is that you stay consistent throughout your entire text and don’t mix styles!

How do I know which citation style to use?

• Ask your lecturers – they often have a preferred style you should follow.
• Learn about the conventions in your discipline. See our articles: Citing in the Social Sciences, Citing in Business Studies, Citing in Engineering and Natural Sciences.
• If your lecturers don’t specify a style, you can choose one yourself. It’s best to go with a well-documented style (DIN, Harvard, APA, IEEE etc.).

What is a bibliography?

The bibliography includes all the sources you cited in your text – and only those. As it should allow readers to trace each source, the entries must be detailed enough to locate the exact work if needed.

The bibliography must be complete and consistent.

The format of the bibliography depends on the citation style used. Sources are usually listed alphabetically.

What do I have to cite?

In academic writing, you must mark every idea that is not your own. The only exception is general knowledge within your discipline.

That sounds easier than it is. Especially at the beginning of your studies, it can be difficult to recognize what counts as general knowledge. The good news: it gets easier over time. Until then, these rules of thumb may help:

You don’t necessarily need to cite:

• Things your readers are expected to know.
• What common sense would suggest.
• Content found in general reference works.

You must always cite:

• If an idea or result can be traced back to a specific author or study.
• If the statement is controversial or debatable.
• Any wording you copy exactly.
• If you include data from other research.

Frequently asked questions

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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

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Quotes style

Müller (2012) recommends the use of footnotes to avoid interrupting the flow of the text. All footnotes are collected and listed at the bottom of the page.

However, your lecturers may prefer a different quotes style – clarify this in advance.

Direct and indirect quotes

Basically, two types of quotes are distinguished: the direct (verbatim) and the indirect (paraphrased) quote.

For both types of quotes, you must include a reference that proves where the quote comes from.

With direct quotes you take over the foreign text unchanged into your text, including spelling and punctuation. This is indicated by quotation marks and the reference. Any change, omission, or correction of errors must be marked by square brackets.

Use direct quotes sparingly! Only quote directly when the phrasing of the writers is particularly original and concise.

With indirect quotes you adopt ideas, results, statements etc. from other texts but formulate them in your own words. Indirect quotes are also marked with a short reference but are not put in quotation marks. The short reference in the footnote begins with “cf.”.

Information about longer indirect quotes can be found in this article: Longer indirect quotes.

Secondary quotes – that is the citation of a quote – should be avoided. Such a quote may only be used in exceptional cases, e.g. when the original source is no longer accessible. Both sources must be listed in the bibliography.

Important notes

If more than two authors are named, place an „et al.“ (Latin for “and others”) after the first name.

Example: Sterzenbach et al. (2009), p. 296.

If there are multiple sources by the same author from the same year, use lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.) after the year.

Example: Aberle (2009a), p. 77. Aberle (2009b), p. 124.

If the place or author is not clear, use the title in place of the author. However, it is better – if the author is missing – to name the responsible organization (association, company, institution etc.).

Example: BMBF (2012), p. 34.

If the year or date is not clear, write „n.d.“ (no date).

Example: Maier (n.d.), p. 99.

Literature types

See also the Literature search by faculties or our article: Using the right sources.

Note: Not all hits in a database are automatically worthy of citation, but you can e.g. set appropriate filters.

Different types of literature are cited differently and listed differently in the bibliography.

Be careful with automatic hyphenation! It can possibly distort links!

Frequently asked questions

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Types of academic articles

Not all academic articles are the same. Depending on their aim and content, they can be categorized into different types:

• Original research articles present new, original research findings. They usually include a methods section, results, and an interpretation of those results (called discussion).
• Review articles summarize research articles on a specific topic. They are useful for getting an overview of the state of research. However, they often lack the most recent research results.
• Short communications / letters / short notes differ from traditional research articles mainly by their brevity. This allows them to be published quickly and to focus on current topics.
• Other types: In addition to the three categories above, there are other types of articles published in academic journals. These are often shorter than original research articles, e.g. a commentary on a specific topic (comments). Some are used to publish genome sequencing results (genome announcements) or to present a new method (technical reports).

Structure of a research article

The following gives a breakdown of the typical structure of research articles in the natural sciences, which is also commonly used in engineering and empirical social sciences:

• Title: states the topic addressed in the article.
• Abstract: provides a brief summary of the article.
• Introduction: introduces the topic – from general background to the aim of the study.
• Materials and Methods: describes the approach taken in the study in enough detail that others could (ideally) replicate it.
• Results: presents the findings in a neutral way, often visualized using charts and tables.
• Discussion: interprets the results and compares them to previous research.
• Conclusion: summarizes key findings and provides an outlook for future research.
• References: lists the literature used in the article.

Research articles are important sources for other academic writing. In exceptional cases, preprints of such articles may also be cited. Please refer to our article: Citing Preprints.

Reference: Arbeitsmaterialien Band 7 (2017): Vom Lesen zum Verstehen: Der Umgang mit wissenschaftlicher Fachliteratur Available online at https://www2.tuhh.de/zll/wp-content/uploads/2017_Umgang_mit_Fachliteratur_website.pdf, last accessed on 13.05.2025. (in German)

Frequently asked questions

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What are preprints?

Before a scientific publication is released, it has to go through multiple rounds of revision and review. This process can take months or even years. However, to make the research findings available to the academic community during this phase, preprints are published.

Preprints are preliminary versions of scientific publications made accessible to the public before official publication. Usually, these versions have not yet undergone peer review. Therefore, they should only be cited in exceptional cases.

Can I cite preprints?

Preprints should only be cited in exceptional cases, since the findings and data in the publication have not yet gone through the peer review process – meaning they have not been evaluated by other researchers. It is always recommended to look for and cite the best possible source: peer-reviewed publications such as articles in scientific journals or books published by academic publishers, e.g., monographs or chapters in edited volumes.

Exception: If a research project is very recent – not older than one or two years – it may make sense to cite the preprint. Preprints should therefore only be cited if there is no newer, peer-reviewed publication available. Make sure to conduct a thorough search in the OPAC, in the publication lists of the main authors, and in relevant library databases to fulfill your academic duty of care.

How do I cite preprints?

Even though a preprint is not an officially published version of a scientific text, any quotes from it must be clearly marked – just like with any other scientific source.

Suggested citation:
[1] M. R. Douglas. “Large Language Models,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.05782, 2023. [Online] Available at https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.05782, last checked on 23.04.2025.

It is important to indicate that the source is a preprint. Always use the citation style you have chosen for your own academic work consistently.

Literature: OA; Open Access (2022): What are Preprints? Available online at https://open-access.network/informieren/publizieren/preprints, last checked on 23.04.2025.

Frequently asked questions

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