Importance of Citations
In this world where cats seemingly play the piano on the internet, one has to ask what is actually fact. Just because someone posted something doesn’t mean there is any substance to it. Citations are crucial for the credibility of a paper.
As the author, one should be researching reputable papers to find factual information. Good information can be found on websites, but the best information usually comes from journals that contain similar research and have published the results.
Readers are more likely to view the paper as a trusted source if there is a list of citations that are well documented and, even better, from journal sources backed by national societies that are respected. People want to see facts.
The sample journal article used in this chapter employs citation-sequence (also called numbered) citations (see Fig. 3.5). This chapter on writing in engineering uses the author-date system. Both are used in engineering journals; it is up to you to be aware of which citation style is used by the journal or publisher you are submitting to. If you are writing your paper for a class, ask your instructor.
