In the links below you will find a variety of tutorials on citations as well as bibliographic management tools. Note: neither RefWorks nor EndNote software is provided by NSU.
When using the work of other people, always remember to
Avoid accidental plagiarism through proper citation methods.
Check out these useful sites for additional information:
The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) has two webpages with examples on writing an experimental report (lab report). These summarize the typical structure of a lab report, APA format (with examples), and helpful tips on crafting your report (see the links below).
Additionally, please refer to your blackboard course (Lab Report Examples module) for examples.
Many of our databases provide simple methods for obtaining citations in various standard formats. Unfortunately, the PubMed and ScienceDirect databases do not. You can, of course, build citations on your own, and the Writing Center provides a number of resources in their Writer's Toolkit to help with that (see the below link). However, there is a shortcut that will get you started, using the library's Discovery search system.
Remember that you always need to double-check your citations with the APA Style Manual before turning in your final product. Libraries on both NSU campuses have copies available for use.
Whenever you find an article, book, or other published resource that you want to cite, take note of the exact title. Then go to the Advanced Search in Discovery (https://nsuok.on.worldcat.org/advancedsearch?databaseList= or click on "Advanced Search" from the library homepage). Type or paste the title into the second search box, next to the "Title" search index option:
Click "Search", and then verify on the following screen that the title matches exactly what you're looking for. If so, click on the "Cite" link below the entry:
A window will pop up allowing you to choose your preferred format. Once you've done so, the citation will appear in the text box, and you will be able to copy and paste it wherever it's needed.
NOTE (1): It takes some time for new citations to make it into the Discovery database. If an article is very new (published within the past week), it may not appear there.
NOTE (2): Most databases allow you to export citations to a citation manager. The one that NSU uses is RefWorks. If you are going to be working with more than a handful of citations, RefWorks will make it much easier. Reach out to your librarian to learn more about this service and how it interfaces with whichever database you're using.
