OmniDocHow to mark references in papers: text citations and numbering rules
Explain the two common writing methods of citation marking in the text of the paper (sequential numbering system and author-year system), and how the text markings correspond to the reference list one-to-one, with an item-by-item verification method.
Key points of this article
- The sequential numbering system is based on the first occurrence of the number. When the same document is cited again, the original number will be used and no new number will be used.
- The author-year text tag must be exactly the same as the author and year in the reference list in order to be able to find each other.
- Each number cited in the text should have a corresponding entry in the reference list, and in turn, each document should be cited in the text.
- The numbering format (square brackets, superscripts or parentheses) shall be subject to the specifications of the school or target journal, and only one format shall be used for the entire text.
When writing a paper, many people focus on the layout of the reference list. When marks like [3] and (Li, 2021) appear in the text, they find that they do not know how to edit it and how to align it with the entries in the table. If the citation annotation is wrong, the common result is that the main text is written as [5], but item 5 in the table is another document, which can be easily picked out during defense or review.
This article only talks about one thing: how to write citation marks in the text and how to correspond one-to-one with the reference list. The description format of the reference entries themselves (the order of authors, titles, journal names, etc.) will not be discussed here, and that part will be specifically explained in another article. After reading, you should be able to determine which numbering scheme to use for your paper, annotate the text step by step, and use a checklist to check that both sides are aligned.
The following content applies to most Chinese degree theses and journal submissions, but the specific rules are often determined by the school's paper format requirements or the submission instructions of the target journal. In the event of conflict, they shall prevail, with the approach in this article serving as a general basis.
How to write citations in the text correctly? One sentence conclusion
First determine which citation system to use according to the requirements of the school or journal: use the sequential numbering system if numbering is required, and the author-year system if the author and year are required; when there is no requirement, the sequential numbering system is used in science and engineering, and the author-year system is used in humanities and social sciences.
| your situation | Recommended practices | reason |
|---|---|---|
| The school or journal specifies a coding system (such as the sequential coding of GB/T 7714) | Mark strictly according to the specified format, and use square brackets to number the text. | When the specifications are clear, follow the specifications to avoid rework. |
| Science and engineering thesis, no special requirements | Sequential numbering system, numbered according to first occurrence | The text is concise and numbers make it easy to locate references. |
| Papers on humanities and social sciences, law or education | Author-year system, the author's surname and year of text writing | Readers can directly see who did the research and which year |
| Citing multiple documents in the same paragraph | Write consecutive numbers in order, author-year system in order of appearance or year | Reduce duplication and keep the format of each paragraph consistent |
| The text cites multiple documents from the same year by the same author. | Author-year system is distinguished by adding a and b after the year. | Avoid two items that are indistinguishable in the text |
Before you start: Confirm these points first
1. Confirm the citation system. Only one format can be used for the same paper. The school's paper format requirements, instructor's guidance, and submission instructions for the target journal usually take precedence over the suggestions in this article. If several statements are inconsistent, ask first before taking action. It is easier to change than to renumber.
2. Confirm the labeling symbol. Common writing methods for sequential numbering include square brackets [1], superscript ¹ and round brackets (1). Different specifications have different requirements for symbols. After deciding on the symbols, keep them consistent throughout the text and do not mix them in different chapters.
3. Compile the literature list. Before starting the annotation, make a list of all the documents to be cited, and indicate the author, year and title keywords for each article. In this way, when a reference appears in the text, you can quickly find the corresponding entry without having to read the full text each time.
4. Distinguish between "citation" and "reference". All research, opinions or data mentioned in the text need to be marked; documents that have been read but not used in the text are generally not included in the reference list. Separating the two types of documents can avoid entries in the table that are not cited in the text.
5. Write down the documents with the same name or the same year. If you cite several documents with the same author and the same year, you need to add a and b to distinguish them under the author-year system; under the sequential numbering system, there is no such problem, but please note that when the same document appears in different places, the numbers must be consistent.
Steps to mark references and align numbering in a Word document
The following steps apply to manuscripts in Word format. You can also follow these steps if you edit a Word-compatible document in UniDoc Web Editor (app.unidoc.top).
- Determine the numbering sequence first. Starting from the first place in the text that needs to be cited, assign a serial number to each document in the order of appearance, and write down the correspondence between the serial number and the document on a piece of paper.
- Write the text mark. Write a number in the text where you need to quote it, for example, "Deep learning has been widely used in image recognition [1]". The tag is placed before the period, closely following the cited content.
- When the same document is cited again, the original number will be used. If the first document is cited again later, still write [1], do not use a new number due to paragraph changes.
- Use ranges for consecutive numbers, and commas for discontinuous numbers. When citing articles 2 to 4, write [2–4]; when citing articles 2, 5, and 7, write [2, 5, 7]. Ranges and commas are used according to the convention used.
- Arrange the reference list in numerical order. Item 1 of the reference list corresponds to [1] in the text, item 2 corresponds to [2], and so on, and cannot be confused.
- Author-Year Sort by author's surname. Chinese documents are usually sorted by the pinyin of the author's name, Western documents are sorted by the alphabet of the last name, and documents by the same author are arranged by year from early to late.
- Check whether the marks are continuous segment by segment. Read the entire text and make sure there are no skipped, omitted, or repeated numbers; if a paragraph has been deleted or changed in the middle, focus on checking whether the numbering is still consistent.
- Check format before exporting. Confirm that only one symbol format is used in the entire text, and there are no extra spaces between punctuation and text, and then export to the final version.
Check each item after completion
After the marking is completed, it is recommended to check item by item according to the table below. Many problems are not easy to find when reading through. Checking item by item can reduce missed corrections.
| Check items | How to see | What to do if there is a problem |
|---|---|---|
| Does the body number all have corresponding entries? | Start with the first number of the text and find the corresponding position in the reference document table one by one | Fill in the entry if you can't find it, or delete the error mark in the text. |
| Whether the reference literature tables are all referenced by the text | Conversely, starting from the first item of the table, check to see if the number has appeared in the body | Entries that are not referenced in the body can either supplement the reference position or be deleted from the table |
| Whether the numbering order is arranged according to the first occurrence | Check whether the position of the first occurrence of each number in the text is incremented. | Adjust the number and modify all related tags synchronously |
| Is the serial number of the same document consistent? | Search for the title or author of the same document and make sure it corresponds to only one number | Unified as the number of the first occurrence |
| Author-is the year consistent with the table | Compare the name and year of the author in the text with the entries in the table. | Correct spelling and year, paying special attention to the distinction between an and b of the same name or literature of the same year |
| Whether the mark symbols are unified or not | Scan the full text to see if square brackets, superscripts or parentheses are mixed | Replace uniformly according to the norms of schools or periodicals |
If the content quoted in the text is found to be inconsistent with the original text in the check, it should be checked back to the original text instead of just modifying the mark. Correct tagging but incorrect quotation will also affect the quality of the paper.
# Core comparison
| Contrast item | Sequential numbering system | Author-Annual share system |
|---|---|---|
| Body tag exampl | Deep learning has been widely used [1] | Deep learning has been widely used (Li, 2021) |
| Reference literature table arrangement | In the order in which they first appeared | Sort by author's last name or Pinyin |
| Reader positioning mode | Look at the numbers, then check the table. | Look at the author and year, look up the table directly |
| Common areas of use | Science and engineering, medicine, etc. | Humanities and social sciences, law, education, etc. |
| Modification cost | Adding and deleting paragraphs in the middle will lead to overall changes in subsequent numbering. | The addition and deletion of documents only need to adjust the position in the table, and the text marks remain unchanged. |
The advantage of sequential numbering system is that the text is concise and suitable for the length limitation of periodicals; the advantage of author-year system is that readers can see the cited author without turning over the table, which is suitable for writing that needs to highlight the views of scholars. The selection is mainly based on discipline practices and contribution requirements.
# frequently asked questions (FAQ)
1. The text quotes many literature. how should it be written?
Under the sequential numbering system, successive articles are written in ranges, such as [3mur5]; discontiguous articles are separated by commas, such as [3,6]. Author-under the annual share system, arranged in the order required by the school or journal, the common practice is to arrange the years from morning to night, separated by semicolons.
2. What if the entry in the reference table does not match the number of the text?
Start with the first number of the text, compare the entries in the table one by one, and find out the corresponding position in the first place. Usually, the backward numbers of deleted paragraphs are not updated synchronously, or the order of entries in the table changes after they are added or deleted. After the correction, check it completely according to the checklist mentioned above.
3. The content quoted in the same paragraph comes from many places in the same literature. do we need to repeat it?
Under the sequential numbering system, the number of the same document remains the same, and it can be written down when each citation is needed. Under the author-year system, if the author and year of the same paragraph have been marked in the previous paragraph, only the page number may be written or the repetition may be omitted, subject to the specifications used.
4. What needs to be referenced is a web page or a meeting report. What's the difference when tagging?
The basic way of marking remains the same, and the text is still marked by number or author-year. The difference mainly lies in the format of the entries in the reference literature table, such as the visit date of the web page and the name and time of the meeting report. These details belong to the description of the entry, please follow the description of the specification used.
5. What should be paid attention to when quoting foreign documents that have been processed by machine translation or OCR tools?
Errors or omissions may occur in both machine translation and OCR. Before citation, you should go back to the original text to check the author's name, title, year and page number. The numbering itself is not affected, but the wrong title or year will make the reference table meaningless, and this step cannot be saved.
# Summary
The core of the text reference tagging is two things: the number or the author-year mark should be standardized, and the mark should correspond to the entry of the reference document table one by one. Confirm the standard first, mark it step by step, and then check it with the checklist. Most errors can be found before submission.
