Writing a Paper in Word 2019: Questions & Answers

In summary: Hi,I was practicing writing a paper in MS Word 2019 and need your help with few important points. I understand it's little too many queries but they are all related so I thought asking them together would be a better idea. Thanks in advance!1: Suppose once I was done adding all the references to the document and thought that everything was okay, it occurred to me that I missed adding a citation to the information contained in the very first paragraph of the document. Suppose, I had already added ten citation, i.e. from [1] to [10], and it would require me to add the citation for the very first paragraph as "[11]" which looks odd. Is there any way around it where
  • #1
PainterGuy
940
69
Hi,

I was practicing writing a paper in MS Word 2019 and need your help with few important points. I understand it's little too many queries but they are all related so I thought asking them together would be a better idea. Thanks in advance!

1: Suppose once I was done adding all the references to the document and thought that everything was okay, it occurred to me that I missed adding a citation to the information contained in the very first paragraph of the document. Suppose, I had already added ten citation, i.e. from [1] to [10], and it would require me to add the citation for the very first paragraph as "[11]" which looks odd. Is there any way around it where Word could adjust the numbering of citations on its own based on the order of how they appear in the document?

By the way, I understand that it has to do with the style that how the work is cited; a certain style would require to use numbering like [1] and other style would require author's name like [Edward, John]. Personally, I prefer the style which uses numbers for citations such as [1], [2].

2: Suppose while writing the paper I have also used some works which really helped me to put everything together. I mean some uncited works. My understanding is that such uncited works are part of bibliography. Am I supposed to use two different sections at the end of paper titled "References" and "Bibliography" where cited works fall under "References" and uncited works under "Bibliography"? Personally I would prefer separation sections.

3: When a paper is written by a single author, which personal pronoun is preferred "I" or "We"?

4: What's the best way to cite or quote text from a source? Suppose I'm citing page #22 from a certain book. By doing this, I think that I'm informing the reader that whatever is being said is backed up by the information which could be found on page #22 of the referenced book. But what's the guarantee that whatever is being said is really backed up by the information on page #22. It's my personal interpretation of the information on page #22 and my interpretation could be wrong. It's equally possible that the information on page #22 doesn't support whatever I'm claiming.

My second related concern is that if it's okay to copy/paste the text from a certain source in quotes with proper citation?

5: Personally I have seen that footnotes and endnotes are denoted by superscripts like this1. Personally I prefer endnotes. Am I supposed to create a new section titled "Endnotes" at the end of paper to reference the sources?

6: I think that if I'm also incorporating tables and diagrams in the paper from other sources, I need to cite them. Am I supposed to create another section at the end of paper titled "Tables and Diagrams" to reference the sources?

Helpful links:
1: https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/a.../referencing/icite/harvard/referencelist.aspx
2: https://stmary.libguides.com/c.php?g=437282&p=2981548
3: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-beween-Reference-and-Bibliography
4: https://www.managers.org.uk/~/media/Files/PDF/Study Support/References-and-Citations.pdf
5: https://www.plagiarism.org/article/whats-a-bibliography
6: https://www.plagiarism.org/article/what-are-footnotes
7: https://library.sacredheart.edu/c.php?g=29803&p=185936
 
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  • #2
Just to get it out of the way, if you're a physics or mathematics student, you should probably look up LaTeX. It's generally the standard means of writing academic papers in STEM fields and though there is a learning curve, what you'll find is that once you've learned it, you'll be able to write anything with complex math and lots of references much faster than you can with Word. And it has the automated features that allow you to insert and renumber references.

If you insist on Word, you generally need an add on program. I use EndNote, but it's not free. You could look an alternative like Mendeley. One of my students used that and had some success with it.


PainterGuy said:
By the way, I understand that it has to do with the style that how the work is cited; a certain style would require to use numbering like [1] and other style would require author's name like [Edward, John]. Personally, I prefer the style which uses numbers for citations such as [1], [2].

What you prefer, doesn't really enter into the equation I'm afraid. You have to look to the journal you plan to submit to for their preferred style guidelines. Every major journal will have these, you just have to poke around on their website under 'submission guidelines.' Follow their recommended format. This will vary from journal to journal. And that's another reason to use some kind of software solution to references and formatting. With something like EndNote, you just select a different format and the entire document reference structure updates to that style.

In my responses below all will have the caveat: follow the recommended style of the journal. If this is for a class - your professor should give you a recommended format as well. If they haven't, just ask them.

2: Suppose while writing the paper I have also used some works which really helped me to put everything together. I mean some uncited works. My understanding is that such uncited works are part of bibliography. Am I supposed to use two different sections at the end of paper titled "References" and "Bibliography" where cited works fall under "References" and uncited works under "Bibliography"? Personally I would prefer separation sections.

I've never seen a separate References and Bibliography section - maybe in a thesis with references at the end of each chapter and a Bibliography at the end of the complete thesis.

I'm not sure what you mean by "uncited" - do you mean work that is not peer-reviewed? This still typically goes in a references section. You just follow the format for non-peer-reviewed words, like personal communications, white papers, websites, etc. for your citation.

3: When a paper is written by a single author, which personal pronoun is preferred "I" or "We"?

Convention in my experience seems to be "we" even with a single author. This is because even though you may be writing it on your own, science is rarely done in a complete vacuum.

I might also note that unless you're referring to specific things that you or your group did, it's generally better to avoid personal pronouns.

4: What's the best way to cite or quote text from a source? Suppose I'm citing page #22 from a certain book. By doing this, I think that I'm informing the reader that whatever is being said is backed up by the information which could be found on page #22 of the referenced book. But what's the guarantee that whatever is being said is really backed up by the information on page #22. It's my personal interpretation of the information on page #22 and my interpretation could be wrong. It's equally possible that the information on page #22 doesn't support whatever I'm claiming.
This is specific to the formatting style of the journal, but generally speaking, if you're referring to a book, you can and should include a page number or page range.

My second related concern is that if it's okay to copy/paste the text from a certain source in quotes with proper citation?
Yes. It just needs to be clear what exactly is being quoted. Again see the journal guidelines for preferred format.

5: Personally I have seen that footnotes and endnotes are denoted by superscripts like this1. Personally I prefer endnotes. Am I supposed to create a new section titled "Endnotes" at the end of paper to reference the sources?
Again, refer to the journal style guidelines. In my experience most prefer footnotes.

6: I think that if I'm also incorporating tables and diagrams in the paper from other sources, I need to cite them. Am I supposed to create another section at the end of paper titled "Tables and Diagrams" to reference the sources?
Yes, if it's someone else's table, you need to reference it. And in most cases you would also need permission from the publisher and/or author to include it in your own work. You can't simply copy and paste someone else's image in your own paper without permission.

With tables, commonly people will place other's data in a table of their own and cite the source of the data because they're presenting that data in the context of their own work. I think the main exception to this is for a review article.
 
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  • #3
Thanks a lot for the detailed reply.

Re: Question 1
Choppy said:
Just to get it out of the way, if you're a physics or mathematics student, you should probably look up LaTeX. It's generally the standard means of writing academic papers in STEM fields and though there is a learning curve, what you'll find is that once you've learned it, you'll be able to write anything with complex math and lots of references much faster than you can with Word. And it has the automated features that allow you to insert and renumber references.

If you insist on Word, you generally need an add on program. I use EndNote, but it's not free. You could look an alternative like Mendeley. One of my students used that and had some success with it.

I have always used Scientific Workplace (SW) instead of LaTex; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_WorkPlace . As a beginner, I'd say that SW does a good job.

I use Microsoft Word 2019 and, as I'm sure you are aware, it has some good features for referencing except the one I'm looking for. Please check the image below. Personally, I always prefer not to use extra add-ons or plug-ins.

1605165608703.png


I hope you understood my point from Question 1. Anyway, I was looking for a way to arrange the citations based on the order of appearance in document. The same point is raised here: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...umbering/8cae16fe-49d0-4f90-9a48-77be44ec4c04 . So, if you are sure that EndNote or Mendeley are capable of resolving this issue, I could give them a try.

Choppy said:
What you prefer, doesn't really enter into the equation I'm afraid. You have to look to the journal you plan to submit to for their preferred style guidelines. Every major journal will have these, you just have to poke around on their website under 'submission guidelines.' Follow their recommended format. This will vary from journal to journal. And that's another reason to use some kind of software solution to references and formatting. With something like EndNote, you just select a different format and the entire document reference structure updates to that style.

I agree with you. What I prefer doesn't matter. I'm practicing using IEEE format.

Re: Question 2
Choppy said:
I'm not sure what you mean by "uncited" - do you mean work that is not peer-reviewed? This still typically goes in a references section. You just follow the format for non-peer-reviewed words, like personal communications, white papers, websites, etc. for your citation.

Sorry for the confusion. By "uncited works" or 'non-cited works', I meant the sources which aren't directly cited in the paper. Please see below.

References include sources that have been directly cited in your paper. For each source, you will have at least one in-text citation in the body of your paper. The citation styles that use reference lists include APA citations, AMA citations, and MLA citations.

Bibliographies, on the other hand, contain all the sources that you have used for your paper, whether they are directly cited or not. In a bibliography, you should include all of the materials you consulted in preparing your paper. Chicago citations and Oxford citations are two citation styles that use bibliographies.
Source: https://stmary.libguides.com/c.php?g=437282&p=2981548

Choppy said:
I've never seen a separate References and Bibliography section - maybe in a thesis with references at the end of each chapter and a Bibliography at the end of the complete thesis.

If I only use one section, let's say Bibliography, it creates a problem. How do I separate the cited works from non-cited works. Please have a look below. Suppose, the third reference, [3], in not directly cited in the paper and the other two, i.e. [1] and [2], are cited. It creates confusion. It mixes up cited sources and un-cited sources. Any suggestion to separate them?

Bibliography
[1]K. Michael, in Michael's World, Addison, 2000, p. 300.
[2]Spielberg, in Jurrasic Kingdom, Paramount, 2005.
[3]Tim, in Alice in Crazyland, RCC, 2008, p. 500.

Re: Question 6

Choppy said:
Yes, if it's someone else's table, you need to reference it. And in most cases you would also need permission from the publisher and/or author to include it in your own work. You can't simply copy and paste someone else's image in your own paper without permission.

With tables, commonly people will place other's data in a table of their own and cite the source of the data because they're presenting that data in the context of their own work. I think the main exception to this is for a review article.

Do I need to provide references to those cited images and tables in some separate section such as "References for Images and Tables"?I was going this sample template for IEEE Access Journal. It uses double column for text. Is it common for scientific journals to use double column text formatting?

Thanks a lot for your help and time!

Helpful link:
https://social.technet.microsoft.co...f-automatic-bibliography-positions?forum=word
 
  • #4
Hi again,

Suppose we are supposed to follow this sample template for IEEE Access Journal.

Magnetic encoders use a combination of permanent magnets and magnetic sensors to detect movement and position. A typical construction uses magnets placed around the edge of a rotor disc attached to a shaft and positioned so the sensor detects changes in the magnetic field as the alternating poles of the magnet pass over it.

The simplest configuration would have a single magnet, with its north and south poles on opposite edges of the rotor, and a single sensor. Such a device would produce a sine wave output with a frequency equal to the rotational speed of the shaft.

Source: https://www.electronicdesign.com/te...g-resolution-in-optical-and-magnetic-encoders

Suppose I want to quote the above information in a paper. How do I do it? Is the way I do it below correct? Please note that I've added the phrase "[Hall effect or]" at the beginning."[Hall effect or]Magnetic encoders use a combination of permanent magnets and magnetic sensors to detect movement and position. A typical construction uses magnets placed around the edge of a rotor disc attached to a shaft and positioned so the sensor detects changes in the magnetic field as the alternating poles of the magnet pass over it.

The simplest configuration would have a single magnet, with its north and south poles on opposite edges of the rotor, and a single sensor. Such a device would produce a sine wave output with a frequency equal to the rotational speed of the shaft.
" [1]

REFERENCES
[1] G. Monari, "Understanding Resolution In Optical And Magnetic Encoders," [Online]. Available: https://www.electronicdesign.com/te...ng-resolution-in-optical-and-magneticencoders.
[Accessed 18 11 2020].Thanks in advance!

Helpful link:
https://www.lexico.com/grammar/parentheses-and-brackets
 
Last edited:

1. How do I insert page numbers in my Word document?

To insert page numbers in Word 2019, go to the Insert tab and click on the Page Number option. You can choose to insert page numbers at the top or bottom of the page, and you can also customize the format and style of the page numbers.

2. How do I create a table of contents in my paper?

To create a table of contents in Word 2019, use the built-in heading styles to organize your text. Then, go to the References tab and click on "Table of Contents". You can choose from different table of contents styles and also customize the formatting.

3. Can I collaborate with others on a Word document?

Yes, you can collaborate with others on a Word document by using the "Share" option in the top right corner of the screen. You can invite others to view or edit the document, and you can also track changes made by different collaborators.

4. How do I add citations and a bibliography to my paper?

To add citations and a bibliography in Word 2019, use the "References" tab and click on the "Insert Citation" button. You can choose from different citation styles and also manage your sources by clicking on the "Manage Sources" option.

5. Can I save my document as a PDF in Word 2019?

Yes, you can save your document as a PDF in Word 2019 by going to the File tab and clicking on "Export". Then, choose "Create PDF/XPS Document" and click on "Create PDF/XPS". This will save your document as a PDF file.

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