Editing Tips: Should You Edit Citations and References?

You need to know your referencing systems if you’re proofreading academic documents. Knowadays covers several major referencing styles to this end, but we’re often asked how far an editor should go with citations. The answer is “It depends!” But that isn’t a very helpful answer, so we’ll look more at how to edit references and citations below.

Citations and Reference Lists

First, let’s get the basics down. What do we mean by citations and references?

• A citation is how a writer points to a source in a document. This will usually be either in the main text (e.g., Harvard referencing) or in a footnote (e.g., Oxford referencing). And every time a writer relies on or quotes a source, they’ll need to provide a citation.
• A reference is usually an entry in a reference list or bibliography. This will include the full source information, including publication details.

The exact details will depend on the system your client is using. As such, you should establish this as part of the brief when agreeing to work on an academic document.

Should You Edit Citations and References?

Here’s where things get complicated. Ultimately, it depends on what you agree with your client. If they ask you to work on the referencing and you have the necessary style guide available (e.g., Chicago, APA, MLA), then it is up to you whether to offer this service.

At Knowadays, and at our partner company Proofed, we favor a minimal approach when it comes to editing citations and references because:

• It is sometimes difficult to know which citations relates to which source.
• You can’t always be sure which edition of a source your client has used.
• Some universities mark student work in part on its referencing, so significant changes to citations or the reference list could qualify as academic plagiarism.

As a result, we avoid making major changes to citations and references. For instance, we would not usually add citations or reference where they seem to be missing. We do, however, make edits for clarity or consistency. But you should only do this if:

• You have agreed this as part of the service you’re providing.
• Your client’s work is not subject to academic plagiarism restrictions.
• You are 100% certain that you have all the information required (e.g., about the referencing system and the sources your client has used) to make accurate changes.

In other cases, it is enough to leave a comment highlighting the problem for the client.

Reference Management Software

One thing to be aware of is referencing software. This includes packages like EndNote and Mendeley, which students and researchers use to manage citations in a document.

If your client is using referencing software, be careful about making manual changes to citations or references. These could get lost when your client updates their library of references. So unless you’ve discussed this with them, it is typically better to leave a comment.

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