Do You Need To Cite User Manuals

Jul 21, 2017 Researchers and students in the behavioral and social sciences often use lab manuals for information about procedures, equipment and safety. They may need to include this material when writing about their studies. The sixth edition of the 'Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association' offers guidelines for citing lab manuals. Dec 28, 2017  But with the proper information, you’ll find that citing a pamphlet isn’t as challenging as it might seem initially. In fact, the information required is quite similar to what you’d need if you were citing a book. Let’s review how to do this in MLA format (8th ed.), APA format, and Chicago/Turabian. Apr 17, 2017  If you are conducting research on a product or service, you may reference a user manual or instructional guide in your paper. Whenever you reference a source in your work, cite it properly so your reader knows where you found your information. In American Psychological Association, APA, style, user manuals are cited. APA In-Text Citations Frequently Asked Questions. When do I need to provide a citation? You should provide an in-text citation whenever you quote, paraphrase or summarize research. How do I cite secondary sources that were cited in my research (a citation of a citation)? May 16, 2014  Many of my documents need to cite 'Product Brochures' and 'User Manuals'. None of the existing item types seem to fit well, though I've tried 'Document' and 'Report'. It will be useful to have two new item types (or just one with merged capabilities) that has fields such as: Institution, Make, Model, Version Number, Version Date, Document Date, Pages. Oct 18, 2017  The Chicago Manual of Style was recently updated to the 17th edition. Read on and see what's new between the 16th and 17th editions. Basically, you can cite this user's manual just as you would any book-like publication. The only difference is that you don't cite the name of an author: User's Manual for Foo Instrument, Model Bar. Random City: XYZ Corporation (Year). Or whatever is the appropriate reference style for your work.

Jon ZamboniUpdated April 17, 2017
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If you are conducting research on a product or service, you may reference a user manual or instructional guide in your paper. Whenever you reference a source in your work, cite it properly so your reader knows where you found your information. In American Psychological Association, APA, style, user manuals are cited as part of a product's information.

Reference List

When you cite any information that is packaged with a product, the company is listed as the author, along with the year the product was made and the location of the company. APA formats this information like this:

Company name. (Year). Product name: Type of product info. Publisher location: Publisher.

Because the publisher is the company, the company's location will be listed as the publisher's location, and the publisher will simply be listed as 'Author'. For example:

Staples. (2014). Screen cleaning set: Instruction manual. Framingham, MA: Author.

User Manuals With Authors or Outside Publishers

When a product's user manual lists an author, list the author of the manual in place of the company name in your reference list citation:

Gates, B. (1995). Windows '95: User Guide. Redmond, WA: Microsoft.

If a user manual is published by an outside publisher, that publisher information is listed in place of the company information under 'publisher':

General Mills. (2002). Cheerios chess: Instructions. Seattle, WA: Wizards Games.

Citing a User Manual Found Online

If you are citing a user manual that you found online, include a link to the site from which it was retrieved:

Company name. (Year). Product title: Type of product information. Retrieved from URL.

Do You Need To Cite User Manuals Software

Do you need to cite user manuals free

For example:

Blizzard Entertainment. (1998). Starcraft: User manual. Retrieved from http://ftp.blizzard.com/pub/misc/StarCraft.PDF.

In-Text Citations

When you reference or quote a user manual in the text of your paper, include an in-text citation to show where the information comes from. The in-text citation will include the author name of a source -- in this case, the company name -- the year of publication and the page number, if applicable. For example:

The product kit includes a screen cleaning solution, microfiber cloths, and a 'stain light' to check for scratches (Staples, 2014).

Windows users were instructed to troubleshoot and only reboot their computer as a last resort (Gates, 1995, p. 12).

If the author name or date of publication is included in the leading sentence of a reference, you do not need to include that information in your in-text citation. For example:

Norton manual update download. Blizzard describes Starcraft as being open to multiplayer formats such as 'Melee, Free for All, Greed, Slaughter, and Capture the Flag' (1998, p. 11).

Cite this Article
Choose Citation Style
Zamboni, Jon. 'How to Cite a User Manual in a Paper.' , https://penandthepad.com/cite-user-manual-paper-8653776.html. Accessed 11 December 2019.
Zamboni, Jon. (n.d.). How to Cite a User Manual in a Paper. . Retrieved from https://penandthepad.com/cite-user-manual-paper-8653776.html
Zamboni, Jon. 'How to Cite a User Manual in a Paper' accessed December 11, 2019. https://penandthepad.com/cite-user-manual-paper-8653776.html
Note: Depending on which text editor you're pasting into, you might have to add the italics to the site name.

References

Pen & the Pad
Susan SherwoodUpdated July 21, 2017
Michael Blann/Lifesize/Getty Images

Researchers and students in the behavioral and social sciences often use lab manuals for information about procedures, equipment and safety. They may need to include this material when writing about their studies. The sixth edition of the 'Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association' offers guidelines for citing lab manuals.

In-Text Citation

Do You Need To Cite User Manuals Pdf

When you include information from a lab manual in text, put a citation inside parentheses. Insert the name of the issuer of the manual, such as a company, a college department or an instructor's surname. Add a comma and then list the publication year, such as: (Department of Physics, 2012). If you mention the issuer in text, omit the name from the parentheses.

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References Page

Include the in-text citation on the References page. Begin with the name of the issuer of the manual, such as a company, a college department or an instructor. If it is an individual, list the last name, a comma and initials. Add a period. Insert the publication year within parentheses. Add a period. Next put the italicized title of the manual in sentence case with a period. Finish with the place of publication, a colon, the publisher and a period. For example:

Department of Physics. (2012). Introductory physics handbook and lab manual (in italics). New York, NY: Best College.

Manuals Cite this Article
Choose Citation Style
Sherwood, Susan. 'How to Reference a Lab Manual in APA Format.' , https://penandthepad.com/reference-lab-manual-apa-format-2263.html. Accessed 11 December 2019.
Sherwood, Susan. (n.d.). How to Reference a Lab Manual in APA Format. . Retrieved from https://penandthepad.com/reference-lab-manual-apa-format-2263.html
Sherwood, Susan. 'How to Reference a Lab Manual in APA Format' accessed December 11, 2019. https://penandthepad.com/reference-lab-manual-apa-format-2263.html
Note: Depending on which text editor you're pasting into, you might have to add the italics to the site name.

References

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How to Cite a Class Handout in APA