Education is a process where all the students need to gather as much knowledge on a certain subject. There are numerous ways this can be achieved, depending on the subject itself. For instance, if you are studying to become a doctor, then you would need to learn about as much as conditions as possible. Plus, it is always important to understand what causes them, and how we can cure them efficiently.
In many cases, this would mean that students will need to have a detailed look into these, more precisely, in the laboratory. These examinations cannot be done without having lab manuals. Basically, they are used by students and teachers for conducting research under certain conditions, mainly in the laboratory. It has information about the equipment used, the safety measures that should be followed thoroughly, and directions on how to conduct the experiments or diagnostic tests.
It needs to be said that pretty much all laboratories out there have their protocol during these processes. When writing reports or research papers, these lab manuals should be cited. The seventh edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) provides guidelines on how to cite these properly, without making any mistakes in the process.
According to the APA, these manuals should be cited and referenced like a book. Still, it is quite obvious that things can get more complicated than that. Thankfully, there are different guidelines for when lab manuals don’t have a clear author.
How to Cite Them Properly?
When you use information from the manual inside your works, like a direct or paraphrased quote, put the citation in the parentheses after you finish the sentence. To highlight the name of the expert responsible for making these statements, you should always write its name in Italics. If no clear author exists, the proper way to go is to add the name of the company, or university, that was responsible for publishing that particular paper. After that, make sure you include the year that particular paper was published. Let’s take a look at a clear example of how you should do this.
Example: (Environmental Health and Safety Manual, 2010).
One of the commonest mistakes out there is that people are simply do not include the period after they close the excursus. We cannot stress how important it is to do that, no matter how insignificant it looks at first sight. That way, you will state that you’re perfectly aware of all the academic principles established by a wide array of different scientists who wrote these before you. Understanding that this is simply a standard procedure, in this case, is an absolute must.
At first glance, it is possible the citation in whatever you see fit. But, as we’ve already stated, some academic standards need to be met, for the academic paper to be accepted as such. There are a lot of courses online that can provide you with this sort of education. To make this much easier for you, we would like to provide you with an example of how this citation should be done:
According to Environmental Health and Safety Manual (2010), we should always wear gloves while handling poisonous plants (p. 15).
How to Reference a Page
First, it is important to understand that referencing is a process that should consist only of manuals that are available. If that’s the case, you should begin by listing their surname, and then, make sure to include the initials of the author after the comma. If there are multiple authors, write their names according to the order of the alphabet. Another important aspect to take into consideration is the year when this work has published.
It should be included inside parentheses. Follow this with the title of the paper, which needs to be written in italics. After that, male sire to include a period. Plus, make sure to write the name of the publisher. You can find such examples of manuals by visiting here. In case you do not have the time to commit to reading a high-detailed article on this topic, we’ve decided to show you a couple of examples of how it should be done properly.
Example (with one author): Freeman, C. (201o). Environmental Health and Safety Manual. University of Michigan.
Example (with multiple authors): Conrad, J., Freeman, C. (2010). Environmental Health and Safety Manual. University of Michigan.
In cases where the author of the manual is not available, move the title to the beginning. Everything else remains the same.
Example (when the name of the author is not available): Environmental Health and Safety Manual. (2010). University of Michigan.
Citations are important, especially when it comes to writing reports about experiments or diagnostic tests because they show that you have done proper research and followed all the procedures and safety rules correctly. They also acknowledge the authors by giving them credit.
If these requirements are not met by the researcher, chances are that this work can be categorized as plagiarism. But more importantly, it can be categorized as IP theft, which is short for intellectual property stealing. It is a serious situation that can be followed with some serious consequences, like paying high fees to the author.
Since this is a situation that can be avoided rather easily, we do not believe there’s no reason why someone shouldn’t follow these regulations. Not only that they will provide much-needed academic credibility, both for the author and the paper itself. Thankfully, there are a plethora of ways to get this sort of education.
Usually, universities insist on educating their students on these standards by focusing on them while they write academic papers. We believe that this is the right approach. Meaning, when students repeat these standards countless times during their years at the university, it will come as some sort of habit to them. They will do it without even focusing on them. As you can see, it is not all that hard to cite a lab manual properly.
