Glossary - Reference Checker | Citation & Academic Writing Terms

This comprehensive glossary defines key terms related to citation styles, reference checking, and academic writing. Whether you're working with APA, MLA, Chicago, IEEE, or AMA formats, understanding these terms will help you create accurate, professional citations.

A

AMA: American Medical Association citation style, primarily used in medical and health sciences publications.
APA: American Psychological Association citation style, widely used in social sciences, psychology, education, and business. Currently in its 7th edition.
Author-Date System: A citation method that includes the author's surname and publication year in parenthetical citations, commonly used in APA and Chicago Author-Date styles.

B

Bibliography: A list of sources consulted or cited in a research work, typically appearing at the end of a document. Used in MLA and Chicago Notes-Bibliography styles.

C

Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS): Comprehensive style guide offering two documentation systems: Notes-Bibliography and Author-Date. Widely used in history, humanities, and publishing. Currently in its 17th edition.
Citation: A reference to a source within the text of a document, indicating where information was obtained. Can be in-text, parenthetical, or in footnotes/endnotes.
Citation Style: A set of rules governing how to format references and citations in academic writing (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago, IEEE, AMA).
Container: In MLA 9th edition, a larger work that contains a smaller work (e.g., a journal containing an article, or a website containing a page).

D

DOI (Digital Object Identifier): A unique alphanumeric string assigned to digital documents, providing a permanent link to the source. Format: https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx

E

Et al.: Latin abbreviation for "and others," used in citations when a source has multiple authors. Usage rules vary by citation style.

H

Hanging Indent: Formatting where the first line of a reference entry is flush left, and subsequent lines are indented. Standard for most reference list formats.

I

Ibid.: Latin abbreviation for "in the same place," used in Chicago Notes-Bibliography to cite the immediately preceding source. Many publishers now prefer short notes instead.
IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers citation style, primarily used in engineering, computer science, and technology fields. Uses numbered citations.
In-Text Citation: A brief citation within the body of a document indicating the source of information. Format varies by citation style.
ISBN (International Standard Book Number): A unique numeric identifier for books, typically 10 or 13 digits long, used for cataloging and reference verification.

M

MLA: Modern Language Association citation style, predominantly used in humanities, literature, and language studies. Currently in its 9th edition.

N

Notes-Bibliography System: Chicago Manual of Style documentation system using footnotes or endnotes for citations and a bibliography. Preferred in humanities.

P

Parenthetical Citation: An in-text citation enclosed in parentheses, typically containing author name and date (APA) or author name and page number (MLA).
Primary Source: Original materials or firsthand evidence, such as research articles, original documents, or raw data.

R

Reference: A complete citation of a source, typically appearing in a reference list or bibliography at the end of a document.
Reference List: An alphabetical list of sources cited in a document, used in APA and Chicago Author-Date styles. Includes only sources directly referenced in the text.
Reference Checker: A tool that verifies and validates citations and references for accuracy, format compliance, and authenticity.
Reference Verification: The process of confirming that cited sources exist, are correctly attributed, and contain the claimed information.

S

Secondary Source: A source that interprets, analyzes, or comments on primary sources, such as review articles or textbooks.
Sentence Case: Capitalization style where only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized. Used for article titles in APA style.