Citation and references are important part of publishable academic articles and may be used interchangeably. However, as their names imply, they serve different purposes in a writer's work.

What is citation?

Citation or "in-text citation" is the act of quoting or paraphrasing, in your writing project, another individual's work and acknowledging that the work is originally for him or her. This is simply done by writing, within your sentence, the last name of the author, year of publication, and sometimes the page where the work cited can be found. Let's say you found the definition of a word in a journal or website and would like to cite it in your work, there are two ways it can be done. You can quote it word for word with the quotation mark " " or carefully paraphrase it. Then acknowledge the author. In the case of citing a portion of a website or journal article, note the name of the author of that particular article (it is sometimes written at the bottom of accessed page of the website and often at the top of the journal paper's first page), note the year of the journal publication or the 'last-editted/updated' date of the website page you accessed to get the information.

Example:

The following are the original words from a website that I wish to use for my illustrations.
It says: Citation and references should be included anytime you use another individual's work in your own assignment.

I found the authors full name at the bottom of the website page. There are two authors and their names are Michelle Kirschenbaum and Wendy Ikemoto. Note Michelle and Wendy are their first names, while Kirschenbaum and Ikemoto are their last names. On the top of the page, the title of the article is "A Comprehensive Guide to APA Citations and Format". The website was last updated on March 3, 2020. The last time I accessed the website was on 26 October,2021. The URL is https://www.citationmachine.net/apa
These are two ways I can use the word in my own course work, journal or article.

They are:

1. Kirschenbaum and Ikemoto (2020) adviced that citation and references should be included anytime students, writers, or researchers use another individual's work in their own writing projects.

2. "Citations and references should be included anytime you use another individual's work in your own assignment" (Kirschenbaum and Ikemoto, 2020).

In the first example, the words were rephrased with emphasis to suit my thoughts at that moment, while the second example was quoted word for word. I did not add or remove any word in the second example because I felt the words are enough to make a point. Remember to cite last names (surnames). It is in the references that you show the authors' full name and every other detail.

What is references?
When you cite an author's work, you only acknowledge him or her by mentioning their name in the body of your writing. However, what if your reader falls in love with the author's idea and wish to read the full article? It is obvious that citation or 'in-text citation' is not enough. This is where references comes handy. It is in the references section you should write every necessary detail that will enable your reader find that particular work of the author you cited.

Example
If I am to reference example 1 and 2 above, I will simply copy and paste the needed details in this order Name of author, (Date of publication), 'Title of article', URL beginning with http:// (Date accessed). It will look like this in the reference section.

References
Michelle Kirschenbaum and Wendy Ikemoto (March 3, 2020), 'A Comprehensive Guide to APA Citations and Format', available online https://www.citationmachine.net/apa (Accessed on 26 Oct, 2021)

Consequence for not citing and referencing when you ought to.

In-text citation and references are not a option for anyone writing academic or professional articles because such article may be uploaded online and can cause confusion among people who wish to know it's original author. Moreover, the original author may sue you for copyright infringement. In addition to the troubles it may cause, a student, reseacher, or writer who fails to cite and reference could be said to have plagiarized. Unfortunately, plagiarism is an offence that has severe consequence to it. Credibility can be lost as a result of being found guilty of plagiarism.


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