Can You Cite A User Manual In A Scientific Paper

Jon ZamboniUpdated April 17, 2017

Jan 13, 2015 A: You don’t need to include references for programming languages. But, feel free to discuss them in the text of your paper, if relevant. Q: What about mobile apps? A: Yes, you can cite those, too. If you need to cite an app, this blog post has everything you need to know. Q: What about video games? A: Yes, video games are software.

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This shows that you are using someone else’s words to strengthen your paper, which is okay, as long as you properly quote and cite it! You are using a direct quote in your paper if you are taking someone’s exact words and putting them into your paper. If you have too many direct quotes in your paper, your style may seem a little choppy. Jul 31, 2019  It depends on how you've cited the manual in works cited page. You in text citation is just a reference to the works cited page If you have cited the Math and Physics department as the author of the lab manual, then you in text citation above should be correct. Jul 16, 2013 If you need to cite R, there is a very useful function called citation. citation To cite R in publications use: R Core Team (2013). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Since a survey you conducted yourself is not published elsewhere by someone else, you do not cite it in the same way you cite other materials. Instead, in your paper you describe your survey and make it clear that the data you’re referring to is from the survey, usually by saying so in introductory sentences. Apr 17, 2017  If you are conducting research on a product or service, you may reference a user manual or instructional guide in your paper. Whenever you reference a source in your work, cite it properly so your reader knows where you found your information. In American Psychological Association, APA, style, user manuals are cited. Aug 12, 2017  Of course. Web sources are accepted as references. The only problem is that Web references tend to go away, so there is a danger that a few years from now that reference may not be.

If you are conducting research on a product or service, you may reference a user manual or instructional guide in your paper. Whenever you reference a source in your work, cite it properly so your reader knows where you found your information. In American Psychological Association, APA, style, user manuals are cited as part of a product's information.

Reference List

When you cite any information that is packaged with a product, the company is listed as the author, along with the year the product was made and the location of the company. APA formats this information like this:

Company name. (Year). Product name: Type of product info. Publisher location: Publisher.

Because the publisher is the company, the company's location will be listed as the publisher's location, and the publisher will simply be listed as 'Author'. For example:

Staples. (2014). Screen cleaning set: Instruction manual. Framingham, MA: Author.

User Manuals With Authors or Outside Publishers

When a product's user manual lists an author, list the author of the manual in place of the company name in your reference list citation:

Gates, B. (1995). Windows '95: User Guide. Redmond, WA: Microsoft.

If a user manual is published by an outside publisher, that publisher information is listed in place of the company information under 'publisher':

General Mills. (2002). Cheerios chess: Instructions. Seattle, WA: Wizards Games.

Citing a User Manual Found Online

If you are citing a user manual that you found online, include a link to the site from which it was retrieved:

Company name. (Year). Product title: Type of product information. Retrieved from URL.

For example:

Blizzard Entertainment. (1998). Starcraft: User manual. Retrieved from http://ftp.blizzard.com/pub/misc/StarCraft.PDF.

In-Text Citations

When you reference or quote a user manual in the text of your paper, include an in-text citation to show where the information comes from. The in-text citation will include the author name of a source -- in this case, the company name -- the year of publication and the page number, if applicable. For example:

The product kit includes a screen cleaning solution, microfiber cloths, and a 'stain light' to check for scratches (Staples, 2014).

Windows users were instructed to troubleshoot and only reboot their computer as a last resort (Gates, 1995, p. 12).

If the author name or date of publication is included in the leading sentence of a reference, you do not need to include that information in your in-text citation. For example:

Blizzard describes Starcraft as being open to multiplayer formats such as 'Melee, Free for All, Greed, Slaughter, and Capture the Flag' (1998, p. 11).

Cite this Article
Choose Citation Style
Zamboni, Jon. 'How to Cite a User Manual in a Paper.' , https://penandthepad.com/cite-user-manual-paper-8653776.html. Accessed 10 December 2019.
Zamboni, Jon. (n.d.). How to Cite a User Manual in a Paper. . Retrieved from https://penandthepad.com/cite-user-manual-paper-8653776.html
Zamboni, Jon. 'How to Cite a User Manual in a Paper' accessed December 10, 2019. https://penandthepad.com/cite-user-manual-paper-8653776.html
Note: Depending on which text editor you're pasting into, you might have to add the italics to the site name.

References

Pen & the Pad
Jennifer GigantinoUpdated November 21, 2016
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When writing a research paper, you must cite all sources in footnotes or endnotes. There are several different styles of citation. Modern Library Association (MLA) style is used in papers on literature, art and other humanities. American Psychological Association (APA) style is generally used for psychology and education. Though some schools and professors dabble in lesser-used styles of citation such as Turabian and the Chicago Manual of Style (which is actually the normal style for published non-fiction and magazine articles), research papers generally require MLA or APA style.

MLA Style

To cite an original piece of art, use this format: Artist's Last Name, Artist's First Name. Title. Year of Production. Medium. Name of Museum or Private Collection, City Name. Italicize the title. The citation should look like this: Doe, Jim. Untitled #3. 1974. Oil on canvas. Mutter Museum, Philadelphia.

To cite an image of an original work of art -- one that exists in a museum, private collection, etc. -- found in an online database, use this format: Title of Work. Year of Production. Name of Museum or Private Collection. Name of Website. Web. Date of Access. . Italicize the title and the website name. Make sure it looks like this: Watt_Dabney. Brad Boys on Bench London 1981. 11 March 2008. Flickr. Web. 23 May 2011.

Cite a reproduction of art in a book using this format: Artist's :ast Name, Artist's First Name. Title of Work. Year of Production. Museum or Private Collection, City. Title of Book. By Author's Name. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Page Number. Print.

Italicize the titles of the work and the book. Make sure it looks like this: Chicago, Judy. Place Setting for Sojourner Truth. 1979. Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York. Visual Shock: A History of Art Controversies in American Culture. By Michael Kammen. New York: Knopf, 2006. 323. Print.

Cite

Cite an unpublished photograph that you personally took by following this format: Subject of Photograph, Location. Date of Photograph. Personal photograph by author. File Type. Make sure it looks like this: Goldfish in Pond with Cat, Philadelphia. 17 March 2011. Personal photograph by author. JPEG file (or printed photograph, or Polaroid film).

Cite an unpublished photograph that someone else took by following this format: Photographer's Last Name, Photographer's First Name. Subject of Photograph. Date of Photograph. Format. Make sure it looks like this: Doe, Jane. Cat sleeps in corner. 8 June 2009. JPEG file.

Use this format to cite unpublished visual works in other media, as well -- instead of saying 'JPEG file' say 'Oil on canvas' or 'Sculpture.'

APA Style

To cite an image from a library database, use the following format: Artist's Last Name, Artist's First Initial. (Year of Production). Title of Work [Type of Work]. Museum or Private Collection, City. Retrieved from Name of Database.

Italicize the title of the work. Choose the type of work from words like 'painting,' 'photograph,' 'sculpture,' etc.

If the image does not have a title use this format: Artist's Last Name, Artist's First Initial. (Year of Production). Museum or Private Collection, City. Retrieved from Name of Database.

Can You Cite A User Manual In A Scientific Paper

Cite a free image from the Internet using the following format: Artist's Last Name, Artist's First Initial. (Year of Production). Title of Work [Type of Work]. Museum or Private Collection, City. Retrieved from Web Address.

Italicize the title of the work.

Cite an image reproduced in a printed source by using the following format: Artist's Last Name, Artist's First Initial. (Year of Production). Title of Work [Type of Work]. Museum or Private Collection, City. Name of Book. By Author's Name. Publication City: Publisher. Plate or Page Number.

Italicize the name of the work and the name of the book.

Cite this Article
Choose Citation Style

User Manual Pdf

Gigantino, Jennifer. 'How to Cite an Image in a Paper.' , https://penandthepad.com/cite-image-paper-8474396.html. Accessed 11 December 2019.
Gigantino, Jennifer. (n.d.). How to Cite an Image in a Paper. . Retrieved from https://penandthepad.com/cite-image-paper-8474396.html
Gigantino, Jennifer. 'How to Cite an Image in a Paper' accessed December 11, 2019. https://penandthepad.com/cite-image-paper-8474396.html
Note: Depending on which text editor you're pasting into, you might have to add the italics to the site name.

References

Pen & the Pad
How to Write a Bibliography for a Picture
How to Cite a Photograph in APA

Can You Cite A User Manual In A Scientific Paper Template

How To Cite an Internet Image in a Bibliography in MLA Style?
How to Cite Internet Images in APA Style