Referencing & Documentation: APA, IEEE, MLA Formats & Plagiarism

TAKEAWAYS:

• Learn APA, IEEE, and MLA referencing formats with step-by-step examples for books, articles, and websites.
• Understand in-text citations (parenthetical vs. narrative) and how to avoid plagiarism using tools like Turnitin.
• Compare APA vs. IEEE for technical vs. humanities research, and when to use each.
• Master reference list formatting (hanging indents, alphabetical order) and documentation for data sources.
• Apply referencing to Nepali business case studies (e.g., Nabil Bank reports, Daraz’s supply chain research).
• Use Zotero, Mendeley, and EndNote for managing citations and generating reference lists automatically.

1. Why Referencing Matters in Business Research

Referencing is the credible backbone of academic and professional writing. It:

• Gives credit to original authors.
• Supports arguments with evidence.
• Avoids plagiarism (unintentional or intentional copying).
• Helps readers locate sources for further reading.

Example of an APA-formatted book reference (Author, Year, Title, Publisher, Location).

2. Common Referencing Styles

Three widely used styles in business research:

Mermaid Diagram: Referencing Style Selection Flowchart

flowchart TD
    A["Research Topic"] --> B{"Is it technical?"}
    B -->|"Yes"| C["Use IEEE"]
    B -->|"No"| D{"Is it social science?"}
    D -->|"Yes"| E["Use APA"]
    D -->|"No"| F["Use MLA"]
    C -->|"Note: Engineering/Tech Reports"|
    E -->|"Note: Humanities/Social Sciences"|
    F -->|"Note: Literature/Arts"|

3. APA Referencing: Step-by-Step Guide

APA (7th edition) is the most common in business research. Below are worked examples with visuals.

A. In-Text Citations

Two formats:

1. Parenthetical: (Author, Year)
   • Example: Digital payment adoption in Nepal has grown by 30% (Khalti, 2023).
2. Narrative: Author (Year)
   • Example: Khalti (2023) reported a 30% increase in digital payments.

Mermaid Diagram: In-Text Citation Types

mindmap
  root((In-Text Citations))
    Parenthetical(("(Author, Year)")
      Example(("Khalti, 2023")
    Narrative(("Author Year")
      Example(("Khalti (2023)")
    Multiple(("Author1, Year1; Author2, Year2")
      Example(("Khalti, 2023; Shrestha, 2022")
    NoAuthor(("Title, Year")
      Example(("Digital Payments Report, 2023")

B. Reference List Entries

1. Book Reference

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). *Title of book in sentence case*. Publisher.

Example:

Shrestha, R., & Thapa, D. (2020). *Business research methods in Nepal*. Himal Books.

APA book reference structure (Author, Year, Title, Publisher).

2. Journal Article

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. *Journal Name, Volume*(Issue), pages. DOI or URL.

Example:

Gurung, P., & Khanal, S. (2022). Digital payment barriers in rural Nepal. *Journal of Nepalese Economics, 35*(2), 45-60. https://doi.org/xx.xxxx/xxx

Mermaid Diagram: Journal Article Reference Breakdown

flowchart TD
    A["Author"] --> B["Year"]
    B --> C["Article Title"]
    C --> D["Journal Name, Volume(Issue), Pages"]
    D --> E["DOI/URL"]

3. Website/Online Source

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. *Website Name*. URL

Example:

Nepal Rastra Bank. (2023, June 15). *Digital payment trends 2023*. https://www.nrb.org.np

4. IEEE Referencing: For Technical Reports

IEEE uses numbered citations in the text and a numerical reference list.

Example In-Text Citation: Digital payment fraud in Nepal is rising [1].

Reference List Entry (Journal Article):

[1] P. Gurung and S. Khanal, "Barriers to digital payments in rural Nepal," *J. Nepalese Econ.*, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 45-60, 2022, doi: 10.1234/abc.

Mermaid Diagram: IEEE vs. APA Comparison

5. Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is unethical and punishable in exams and research. Common types:

• Direct copying (without quotes/references).
• Paraphrasing without attribution.
• Self-plagiarism (reusing your own work without citation).

How to Avoid It: ✅ Use quotation marks for direct quotes. ✅ Paraphrase (rewrite in your own words). ✅ Cite all sources, even paraphrased ideas. ✅ Use plagiarism checkers like Turnitin, Grammarly, or QuillBot.

Mermaid Diagram: Plagiarism Check Process

flowchart TD
    A["Write Draft"] --> B{"Is it original?"}
    B -->|"No"| C["Add citations"]
    B -->|"Yes"| D["Check with Turnitin"]
    D --> E{"Is % similarity < 10%?"}
    E -->|"Yes"| F["Submit"]
    E -->|"No"| G["Rewrite/cite more"]

6. Real-World Examples of Referencing in Nepal

Example 1: Nabil Bank’s Research Report

• Topic: Loan default rates in Nepal.
• Referencing Used: APA (for social science analysis).
• Example Citation:

  Nepal Rastra Bank. (2022). *Annual report on financial stability*. https://www.nrb.org.np
  

• Why? Banks cite government reports to support policy recommendations.

Example 2: Daraz’s Supply Chain Study

• Topic: Last-mile delivery efficiency in Kathmandu.
• Referencing Used: IEEE (for technical/logistics papers).
• Example Citation:

  [3] A. Shrestha et al., "Optimizing delivery routes in Kathmandu," *Proc. Int. Logistics Conf.*, vol. 12, pp. 112-125, 2021.
  

• Why? E-commerce relies on data-driven citations to justify business decisions.

Worked Example: Referencing a Nepali Newspaper Article

Source: Kathmandu Post. (2023, May 10). "Khalti’s digital payment users hit 5 million." https://kathmandupost.com APA Reference:

Kathmandu Post. (2023, May 10). Khalti’s digital payment users hit 5 million. https://kathmandupost.com

In-Text Citation: (Kathmandu Post, 2023)

7. Documentation Tools for Researchers

Managing citations manually is time-consuming. Use these tools:

Mermaid Diagram: Documentation Tool Workflow

flowchart TD
    A["Find Source"] --> B{"Is it digital?"}
    B -->|"Yes"| C["Save to Mendeley/EndNote"]
    B -->|"No"| D["Manual entry in EndNote"]
    C --> E["Generate reference list"]
    E --> F["Insert into Word/LaTeX"]
    D --> E

8. Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Missing punctuation (e.g., "Smith (2020)" instead of "Smith, 2020"). ❌ Incorrect hanging indents (APA requires 0.5" indent for subsequent lines). ❌ Using "et al." too early (only after 3+ authors). ❌ Forgetting DOIs/URLs for online sources. ❌ Mixing styles (stick to one format per paper).

Mermaid Diagram: Referencing Mistakes Checklist

9. Exam Tip: How This Unit is Tested

1. Direct Questions:
   • "Write the APA reference for a book titled ‘Marketing in Nepal’ by R. Sharma (2021)."
   • Answer: Sharma, R. (2021). Marketing in Nepal. Himal Books.

2. Application-Based:

   • "A student writes: ‘Nepal’s GDP grew by 6.5% (World Bank).’ Correct the in-text citation in APA format."
   • Answer: (World Bank, 2023).

3. Comparison:

   • "Differentiate between APA and IEEE referencing styles with examples."
   • Use the table above and add:
     • APA: Author-Date (e.g., Smith, 2020).
     • IEEE: Numbered (e.g., [1]).

4. Plagiarism Scenarios:

   • "Identify the plagiarized sentence and correct it: ‘Digital payments are convenient (Khalti).’"
   • Answer: (Khalti, 2023) or "Khalti (2023) states that digital payments are convenient."

5. Tool-Based:

   • "Explain how Mendeley helps in managing references for a 50-source research paper."
   • Answer: Automates citation generation, stores PDFs, and syncs across devices.

10. Practice Questions (With Answers)

Q1: Write the APA reference for:

• A journal article: Gurung et al. (2022), "E-commerce in Nepal," Journal of Asian Business, 15(3), 45-60. A1:

Gurung, P., Khanal, S., & Adhikari, R. (2022). E-commerce in Nepal. *Journal of Asian Business, 15*(3), 45-60.

Q2: Correct the in-text citation:

• "Ncell’s 5G rollout (Ncell Press Release, 2023)." A2: (Ncell, 2023) or Ncell (2023) (narrative).

Q3: How would you reference a Tribhuvan University syllabus in APA? A3:

Tribhuvan University. (2023). *Bachelor of Business Administration syllabus*. https://www.tu.edu.np

Final Checklist Before Submitting

• ✅ All sources cited in-text match the reference list.
• ✅ Hanging indents used for APA/IEEE references.
• ✅ DOIs/URLs included for online sources.
• ✅ No plagiarism (check with Turnitin).
• ✅ Consistent style (APA/IEEE/MLA throughout).