Dicitonary entries should also be cited in research papers.
Perhaps the biggest component of research papers or essays is documentation. Any time that you find information from another source, you must give the author credit. Citing your resources also gives your work credibility, which makes it more valuable to your readers as it is verifiable information. Even a source, such as a dictionary, should be cited, as this is information that you were not aware of beforehand. Be careful when citing information, especially from sources such as the dictionary, as there is a very specific way to provide accurate documentation.
Instructions
1. Cite the word or words that you used in your paper directly after or before you use the definition. This applies for Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), Council of Science Editors (CSE) and Chicago documentation, as all of these styles require you to document your sources. To cite the dictionary before, announce the name of the dictionary in a manner that gives it credit such as, "Writers of the Webster dictionary define..." Follow with the word that you are using, complete with the definition as it is listed.
2. Cite the dictionary after you use the word and definition, reverse the order and add parenthesis. Use the word and define it by putting quotes around the definition. Follow the definition with a parenthesis and put the word you defined in quotes. Place a comma after the word and follow with the title of the dictionary.
3. Include your dictionary reference in your works cited or bibliography. Depending on your teacher, the name of the citation page may differ. As the dictionary has no one author listed, put the word that you used within your essay first. It should be capitalized and in quotation marks, with a period following the word. List the name of the dictionary that you used, followed with a period. List the publisher, which is usually similar to the dictionary brand name. Follow that with a comma and the year. Place a period after the year and then list the type of book as print. The word "Print" should be capitalized.
4. Include online information if you are using an online dictionary. This is only necessary for the works-cited page, not the in-text citation. Stay away from dictionaries that can be updated by the public, as your teacher is likely to turn this down as a reliable source. After the word that you used include the title of the website, which should also list the dictionary name. Follow with a period and list the publisher followed by a comma. Include the date that the entry was posted online, if there is no date just list n.d. for "no date available." List the Internet as the type of work. Follow with a period and type the name of the date in which you found the definition. The date should be listed by day, month and then year. Abbreviate the month. For example: March would become Mar.
