Citations & Formatting Resources
Practical Guides for Citations, References and Academic Formatting
This collection helps you review citation consistency and document presentation in work you already have. It explains what to check. It does not verify sources, scan for plagiarism, certify compliance, or format a document automatically.
Checklist
Start with the citation checking checklist.
Attribution
Citations help a reader see where ideas, evidence, quotations, data and arguments came from. What must be cited, and how, varies by discipline, institution, publisher and style. No one style is the default on this page. Use a citation where the work has to show the difference between your contribution and material taken from a source. That is an attribution point. It is not legal advice, and it is not a complete plagiarism policy. A citation at the end of a sentence does not, by itself, explain why the source matters. The sentence may still need an interpretation, a comparison, or a connection to the argument.
Academic Writing resources cover explanation, argument and revision. A citation is not a substitute for that explanation.
In-text citations and the reference list
Where the required style uses both in-text citations and a reference list, the entries should correspond. Not every citation system works this way. Notes, numbered citations and author-date styles match differently. Common problems are a source cited in the text but missing from the list, a reference that is never cited, an author or year that does not match, a name spelled differently in the two places, and a duplicate entry. A source record may include an author, a title, a year, a journal or publisher, a volume or issue, page numbers, and a DOI or URL, depending on the source type and the style. Do not invent a missing detail. If a detail looks incomplete or inconsistent, check it against the original source. This page teaches that review. It does not mean every source, every DOI, or every reference has been independently verified.
Style consistency
Use the style required by the institution, the department, the course, the journal or the publisher. Do not switch to a style only because it is familiar. Manuals and local guidance change, so use the current version you were told to follow. This page is not an official APA, MLA, Chicago or Harvard manual. Those names are examples of common systems, not lessons in each one. “Harvard” can mean different institutional variants. There is no single Harvard format here. Direct quotations may need quotation marks or block formatting, a citation, and a page or paragraph locator, depending on the style and the source. There is no universal locator rule on this page. Paraphrasing changes the wording and the structure while keeping the original idea. It does not remove the need to attribute the idea when attribution is required, and it is not a way to disguise the source. In a reference list, checks that depend on the required style include author spelling, the year or date, how the title is treated, order, punctuation, how a DOI or URL is written, and duplicate entries. This page does not set one ordering rule for every style.
Document formatting
Formatting is broader than citations. Depending on the requirements, it can include headings, margins, spacing, page numbering, front matter, tables, figures, captions, appendices, and how the reference list is presented. Before you reformat a document, check the current university handbook, the department guidance, the assignment brief, the journal instructions, and any template you were given. General guidance on this page does not override those documents. A correctly formatted citation also does not make the source reliable, relevant, current, or methodologically strong. Citation presentation and source evaluation are separate questions. This page does not evaluate sources.
Citation and formatting reviews an existing document against requirements you supply. It does not decide every institutional rule, verify every source, or approve the format.
Formatting, editing and proofreading
Editing is mainly clarity, coherence, language and organisation. Proofreading is the later check of final language. Formatting is how the document is presented against requirements. The tasks can overlap. They are not the same task. A typo and an incorrect heading level are different problems. Academic editing reviews clarity in a draft you have written. Academic proofreading is the language check once the larger revisions have settled. Neither is a formatting review.
Editing vs Proofreading sets out that difference. It does not format the document.
When the issue is clarity
If the main problem is clarity, organisation or explanation, that is editing, not a formatting pass. Formatting does not repair an unclear argument or supply missing analysis.
Academic editing reviews that clarity in a document you have written. It does not write the document or apply a style manual.
Tables, figures, headings and page layout
Tables and figures may need numbering, a title or caption, source attribution, a stated placement, and a cross-reference in the text. Which of those apply depends on the instructions. There is no universal table or figure standard here. Headings should make the structure easier to follow. Numbering, capitalisation, how many levels to use, and the space around a heading all vary. Do not impose one heading system. Margins, line spacing, pagination, page breaks and section breaks are likewise governed by the requirements you were given. This page states no measurements.
A short check
For citations, ask whether every source is real, whether each citation matches the source details, whether each in-text citation has a reference entry where the style requires one, whether names and dates agree, whether quotations are attributed, whether one required style is used throughout, and whether the current instructions have been checked. For presentation, ask whether headings are consistent, whether pagination matches the instructions, whether spacing and margins follow them, whether tables and figures are labelled consistently, whether required front matter is present, and whether the reference list is presented consistently. These questions stay on this page. They are not a separate checklist. Reviewing citations is not the same as running a plagiarism-detection system. This page does not report an originality score, a detector result, or a plagiarism-free document. Do not add a source because an automated tool produced the citation. Confirm that the source exists and that the details match the original. A reference manager can help organise records. A generated entry still needs to be checked against the original source, the required style, and the instructions you were given. This page does not recommend a product. If what remains is spelling, grammar or punctuation, that is a proofreading question, not a formatting one.
Academic proofreading is that later language check. It does not review citation style or page layout.
What these pages do not do
Sources must exist. Bibliographic details and quotations must not be invented. Attribution should reflect how the source was actually used. These guides do not generate citations, fabricate references, guarantee that a citation is accurate, or guarantee that a document complies with a university or a journal.
Read the academic integrity commitment for the boundary that applies to sources, quotations and authorship.
If the document already exists
Citation and formatting support reviews presentation in a document you have written, against requirements you supply. It does not scan for plagiarism, verify every source, or approve the format. The Free Assessment page shows whether an online request can be submitted yet. These pages do not ask you to upload a document.