11  Thesis and Article writing: Format and styles of referencing

11.1 What the Syllabus Covers

The syllabus head has two examined parts:

  1. Format of thesis and research article — what goes where, in what sequence.
  2. Styles of referencing — APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, Vancouver, IEEE, CSE.

The most-repeated PYQ patterns are: (a) section-sequence ordering in a thesis or IMRaD article, (b) style identification (given a citation, name the style), and (c) abbreviation recognition (DOI, ORCID, ISBN, ISSN, et al., ibid., op. cit.).

11.2 Thesis vs Dissertation vs Article

TipThree Forms of Research Writing
Form Submitted for Typical length Original contribution
Article (paper) Peer-reviewed journal 4 000–10 000 words One core idea
Dissertation Master’s / MPhil (UK & India sometimes) or US PhD 15 000–60 000 words Substantial but focused
Thesis PhD (India, UK) — note: in the US, “thesis” is often the master’s work 60 000–100 000 words Significant, novel scholarly contribution
NoteNaming caveat

The thesis vs dissertation labels are reversed between India/UK and the US. In India, the PhD output is called a “thesis”; in the US, a PhD output is called a “dissertation”. PYQs typically follow the Indian usage.

11.3 Thesis Format — The Three Big Sections

A thesis is conventionally organised into three big parts: front matter (preliminary pages) · main body · end matter (back pages).

11.3.1 Front Matter (Preliminary Pages)

TipFront Matter — Standard Sequence
  1. Cover page / Title page — title, author, degree, institution, year.
  2. Declaration / Statement of originality — signed by candidate.
  3. Certificate — signed by supervisor and co-supervisor(s).
  4. Plagiarism check report — Turnitin / iThenticate / Drillbit certificate, with similarity %.
  5. Acknowledgements.
  6. Abstract (200–500 words) — purpose, methods, findings, implications.
  7. Table of Contents (TOC).
  8. List of Figures · List of Tables · List of Abbreviations / Acronyms.
  9. Preface / Foreword (optional).

The front matter is numbered in roman numerals (i, ii, iii…) so that the body’s Arabic numbering starts cleanly at page 1.

11.3.2 Main Body — The Chapter Skeleton

TipSix Standard Chapters of a Thesis
  1. Introduction — background, problem statement, objectives, scope, significance.
  2. Review of Related Literature — conceptual + empirical, with gap analysis.
  3. Methodology — design, population, sample, instrument, procedure, statistics, ethics.
  4. Data Analysis / Results — tables, figures, statistical output (no interpretation here).
  5. Discussion / Findings — interpretation against hypotheses and prior literature.
  6. Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations — implications + directions for future research.

Each chapter typically begins with a short introduction and ends with a brief summary.

11.3.3 End Matter (Back Pages)

TipEnd Matter — Standard Order
  1. References / Bibliography — by chosen style (APA, MLA, etc.).
  2. Appendices — instruments, raw data, additional tables, permissions.
  3. Glossary (optional).
  4. Index (optional, more common in printed books than theses).
  5. Author’s publications & conference presentations from the thesis.

11.3.4 UGC and Shodhganga Mandates

TipUGC Regulations Worth Remembering
  • Pre-submission seminar / open viva is mandated by UGC PhD Regulations 2022.
  • Plagiarism cap: UGC’s 2018 Promotion of Academic Integrity regulations cap acceptable similarity at ≤ 10 % in any chapter. Levels 1–4 of plagiarism trigger graded penalties.
  • Mandatory deposit of the final thesis in Shodhganga (INFLIBNET) and synopsis in Shodhgangotri.
  • Open-access preferred; embargo only on patentable / commercially-sensitive content.
  • Two thesis examiners (UGC PhD Regulations 2022 — at least one from outside India).
  • PhD by Research — published peer-reviewed papers required before submission (UGC norm varies by year and institution).

11.4 Article Format — IMRaD and Beyond

11.4.1 IMRaD — The Universal Skeleton

TipIMRaD Structure
  • I — Introduction (background, gap, objective, research question, hypothesis)
  • M — Materials & Methods (design, sample, instrument, procedure, statistics, ethics)
  • R — Results (findings only)
  • a — and
  • D — Discussion (interpretation, comparison with prior work, implications, limitations, conclusion)

IMRaD was formalised after WWII; the term was popularised by Louis Pasteur Vallery-Radot and others and standardised by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in 1972.

11.4.2 Full Article Layout

TipEleven Components of a Research Article
  1. Title (informative, ≤ 12 words ideally).
  2. Author(s) and affiliation(s) — with ORCID and corresponding author marked.
  3. Abstract (150–300 words; sometimes structured: Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion).
  4. Keywords (3–8) for search-engine indexing.
  5. Introduction.
  6. Materials and Methods.
  7. Results.
  8. Discussion (and Conclusion).
  9. Acknowledgements / Funding / Conflicts of Interest / Data availability statement.
  10. References.
  11. Supplementary material / Appendices.

11.4.3 Reporting Standards by Study Type

TipReporting Standards
Standard Used for
CONSORT Randomised controlled trials
STROBE Observational studies (cohort, case-control, cross-sectional)
PRISMA Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
COREQ / SRQR Qualitative research
GRADE Evidence-quality assessment
STARD Diagnostic accuracy studies
CARE Case reports
MIAME Microarray experiments

11.5 Indexing, Impact, and Quality Metrics

TipJournal Quality Vocabulary
Metric What it measures
Impact Factor (JIF) Avg citations to articles in last 2 yrs (Clarivate JCR)
CiteScore Avg citations to articles in last 4 yrs (Scopus / Elsevier)
SJR (SCImago Journal Rank) Weighted citations by source prestige
SNIP (Source-Normalised IPP) Citations normalised by subject area
h-index Researcher’s productivity + impact (Hirsch 2005)
i10-index Number of papers with ≥10 citations (Google Scholar)
Altmetrics Social-media, news, policy citations

11.5.1 Indian Quality Lists

TipIndian Indexes
  • UGC-CARE List — Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics; replaced the older UGC-approved-journals list (2018). Groups journals into Group I (UGC-CARE protected list) and Group II (Scopus / WoS indexed).
  • NAAS Score (Agricultural Sciences) — National Academy of Agricultural Sciences journal score.
  • ABDC List (commerce, management) — Australian Business Deans Council A*/A/B/C list.

11.6 Styles of Referencing — The Big Picture

A citation style specifies the in-text citation form and the reference list / bibliography form. PYQs ask candidates to recognise styles from examples.

TipCommon Citation Styles
Style Discipline In-text
APA (American Psychological Association) Psychology, education, social sciences Author-Date (Smith, 2020)
MLA (Modern Language Association) Humanities, literature, languages Author-Page (Smith 23)
Chicago History, arts; two systems: NB (notes-bibliography) & AD (author-date) Footnote or in-text
Harvard Generic author-date; many local variants Author-Date (Smith, 2020)
Vancouver Medicine, biomedical Numeric — [1], [2]
IEEE Engineering, computer science Numeric — [1]
CSE (Council of Science Editors) Biology, life sciences Name-Year or Citation-Sequence
AMA (American Medical Association) Medicine Numeric superscript
OSCOLA Law (UK) Footnote
Bluebook Law (US) Footnote
Turabian Student-friendly variant of Chicago NB or AD

11.7 APA Style — The Most-Asked

Current edition: APA 7th (2019, published by the American Psychological Association). Most PYQs are at APA 6th / 7th level.

11.7.1 APA — In-Text Citation

TipAPA In-Text Patterns
  • One author: (Smith, 2020) or Smith (2020) argued …
  • Two authors: (Smith & Rao, 2020) — APA uses and in narrative, & in parenthetical.
  • Three or more authors (APA 7): (Smith et al., 2020) — et al. from the first citation.
  • Direct quote: (Smith, 2020, p. 34).
  • Multiple sources: (Rao, 2018; Smith, 2020) — alphabetical, semicolon-separated.

11.7.2 APA — Reference List Entries

TipAPA 7 Reference Examples

Journal article Smith, A. B., & Rao, C. D. (2020). Title of the article. Journal of X, 15(3), 110–125. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxx

Book Kothari, C. R. (2004). Research methodology: Methods and techniques (2nd ed.). New Age International.

Chapter in edited book Author, A. (2020). Chapter title. In E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. 23–45). Publisher.

Online source Author, A. (2024, March 5). Article title. Site Name. https://example.com/article

APA reference list is alphabetical by first author’s surname, double-spaced, hanging indent.

11.8 MLA Style

Current edition: MLA 9th (2021).

TipMLA — In-Text and Works Cited
  • In-text: (Smith 23) — Author surname + page number, no comma, no year.
  • Works Cited entry (book): Smith, Arun B. Book Title. Publisher, 2020.
  • Works Cited entry (article): Smith, Arun B. “Article Title.” Journal Title, vol. 15, no. 3, 2020, pp. 110–125.

11.9 Chicago / Turabian

Current edition: Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition. Two systems:

TipChicago — Two Systems
  • Notes-Bibliography (NB) — humanities; uses footnotes/endnotes and a bibliography.
    • First footnote: 1. Arun B. Smith, Book Title (Publisher, 2020), 23.
    • Subsequent: 2. Smith, Book Title, 45.
  • Author-Date (AD) — sciences; like APA in form.
    • In-text: (Smith 2020, 23).

Turabian is a student-oriented condensation of Chicago — same systems, lighter rules.

11.10 Vancouver and IEEE — Numeric Styles

Vancouver (also called ICMJE style — International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) is the global biomedical default. IEEE is the engineering counterpart.

TipVancouver / IEEE — In-Text and Reference
  • In-text: [1], [2,3], [4–6] — numbered in order of first appearance.
  • Vancouver reference example:
    1. Smith AB, Rao CD. Title of article. J X. 2020;15(3):110-25.
  • IEEE reference example: [1] A. B. Smith and C. D. Rao, “Title of article,” J. X, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 110–125, 2020.

11.11 Harvard Style

Harvard is a family of author-date styles with many institutional variants. Common form:

TipHarvard — Example
  • In-text: (Smith, 2020) or Smith (2020).
  • Reference list: Smith, A.B. and Rao, C.D. (2020) ‘Title of article’, Journal of X, 15(3), pp. 110–125.

11.12 Other Style Notes

11.12.1 CSE (Council of Science Editors)

Three formats: Name-Year, Citation-Sequence (numeric), Citation-Name. Used in biology, ecology, life sciences.

11.12.2 AMA (American Medical Association)

Numbers as superscripts in text; references in numeric order. Heavily used in clinical-medicine journals.

11.12.3 OSCOLA and Bluebook

OSCOLA (Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities) — UK law. Bluebook — US law. Both use footnote citations with elaborate rules for case law, statutes, journal articles.

11.12.4 ACS (American Chemical Society)

Numeric superscript like AMA; widely used across chemistry literature.

11.13 Reference Managers and Tools

TipReference Managers
  • Zotero — open-source, browser plug-in.
  • Mendeley — Elsevier; free desktop + cloud.
  • EndNote — Clarivate; paid; deeply integrated with Word.
  • RefWorks — institutional cloud.
  • JabRef — open-source, BibTeX.
  • Citavi — long-form thesis workflow.
  • Paperpile — cloud-native, Google Docs.
TipPlagiarism, AI, and Integrity Tools
  • Turnitin / iThenticate — institutional plagiarism check.
  • Drillbit — UGC-empanelled Indian tool, used widely.
  • Grammarly · ProWritingAid · LanguageTool — language polish.
  • DeepL · Google Translate — translation aid.
  • Quillbot · Wordtune — paraphrasers (use cautiously — risk of unintentional plagiarism).
  • AI-detection — GPTZero, Turnitin AI detector, Originality.ai.
  • ORCID — unique researcher ID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID).
  • DOI — Digital Object Identifier (CrossRef / DataCite).

11.14 Key Identifiers and Abbreviations

TipIdentifiers Every Researcher Should Know
Identifier Stands for Issued by
DOI Digital Object Identifier CrossRef, DataCite
ISBN International Standard Book Number (books) National agencies
ISSN International Standard Serial Number (journals) National ISSN centres
ORCID Open Researcher and Contributor ID ORCID, non-profit
PMID PubMed ID NLM (US)
PMC ID PubMed Central ID NLM (US)
arXiv ID arXiv preprint ID Cornell
Scopus ID Scopus Author ID Elsevier
ResearcherID / Publons / WoS ResearcherID Researcher ID Clarivate
TipLatin Reference Abbreviations
Abbreviation Latin English
et al. et alii “and others”
ibid. ibidem “in the same place” (immediately preceding citation)
op. cit. opere citato “in the work cited” (previously cited, not last)
cf. confer “compare with”
e.g. exempli gratia “for example”
i.e. id est “that is”
vs. versus “against”
et seq. et sequentes “and the following”
viz. videlicet “namely”
sic sic erat scriptum “thus it was written” (verbatim error)

11.15 How the Pieces Fit Together

flowchart TB
  R[Research<br/>Output] --> A[Article<br/>4-10k words]
  R --> D[Dissertation<br/>MPhil / MS]
  R --> T[Thesis<br/>PhD]
  A --> J{Journal /<br/>Publisher}
  T --> SG[Shodhganga<br/>Deposit]
  J --> M[Indexing<br/>Scopus · WoS · UGC-CARE]
  J --> ME[Metrics<br/>JIF · CiteScore · SJR · h-index]
  M --> RA[Reader · Researcher]
  ME --> RA
    classDef default fill:#003366,color:#ffffff,stroke:#ffcc00,stroke-width:3px,rx:10px,ry:10px;

11.16 Theory Anchors at a Glance

TipPersons, Bodies and Key Ideas
Person / Body Year Contribution PYQ hook
APA 1929 onward; 7th ed. 2019 APA Publication Manual Most-used social-science style
MLA 1883 onward; 9th ed. 2021 MLA Handbook Humanities style
Chicago Manual 1906 onward; 17th ed. 2017 NB & AD systems History, arts
Kate Turabian 1937 onward Turabian — student version of Chicago Student manuals
ICMJE 1978 Vancouver style for biomedicine Numeric medical style
ANSI 1972 Formalised IMRaD Article structure
J.E. Hirsch 2005 h-index Researcher impact
Eugene Garfield 1955 Citation indexing; founded ISI Citation science
UGC India 2018, 2022 UGC-CARE list; plagiarism regulations; PhD regs Indian norms
INFLIBNET 2011 Shodhganga repository Indian thesis deposit
ORCID Inc. 2012 ORCID iD Researcher identifier
CrossRef 2000 DOI infrastructure Document identifier

11.17 Practice Questions

Q 01 IMRaD Easy

In a research article, IMRaD stands for:

  • AIdea, Method, Research, Display
  • BIntroduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion
  • CInference, Measure, Reason, Document
  • DIssue, Method, Research, Decision
View solution
Correct Option: B
Universal article structure: Introduction · Methods · Results · and Discussion.
Q 02 Sequence Medium

Arrange the following components in their CORRECT order in a thesis:

(i) References   (ii) Abstract   (iii) Introduction   (iv) Discussion

  • A(ii) → (iii) → (iv) → (i)
  • B(iii) → (ii) → (iv) → (i)
  • C(i) → (ii) → (iii) → (iv)
  • D(ii) → (iv) → (iii) → (i)
View solution
Correct Option: A
Abstract (front matter) → Introduction → Discussion → References (end matter).
Q 03 APA Medium

Which citation style is MOST commonly used in psychology and the social sciences?

  • AMLA
  • BAPA
  • CChicago
  • DVancouver
View solution
Correct Option: B
APA (American Psychological Association) — dominant in psychology, education, social science. Current: APA 7 (2019).
Q 04 Style ID Medium

The in-text citation "(Smith, 2020, p. 34)" follows which style?

  • AMLA
  • BAPA
  • CVancouver
  • DIEEE
View solution
Correct Option: B
Author + comma + year + comma + "p." page = APA. MLA has no comma and no year: (Smith 34).
Q 05 Style ID Medium

The in-text citation "[1]" suggests which style?

  • AHarvard
  • BAPA
  • CIEEE / Vancouver
  • DMLA
View solution
Correct Option: C
Numeric in square brackets = IEEE (engineering) or Vancouver (medicine).
Q 06 Latin Hard

The abbreviation "et al." stands for:

  • Aet alibi (and elsewhere)
  • Bet alii (and others)
  • Cet ante (and before)
  • Det altera (and the other)
View solution
Correct Option: B
Latin et alii = "and others". Used when listing 3+ authors after the first.
Q 07 Latin Hard

"ibid." in a footnote means:

  • AIn the work previously cited (not the most recent)
  • BIn the same place (the immediately preceding citation)
  • CAs far as it goes
  • DCompare with
View solution
Correct Option: B
ibidem = "in the same place" — the immediately preceding citation. op. cit. (opere citato) = work previously cited but not the most recent.
Q 08 Identifier Easy

A DOI is:

  • AAn author identifier
  • BA digital identifier permanently linked to a document
  • CA journal impact factor
  • DA library shelf number
View solution
Correct Option: B
DOI = Digital Object Identifier; a permanent, unique identifier for an article or data set (issued by CrossRef / DataCite).
Q 09 ORCID Medium

ORCID is a 16-digit unique identifier for:

  • AA research article
  • BA journal
  • CA researcher / author
  • DAn institution
View solution
Correct Option: C
ORCID = Open Researcher and Contributor ID. Disambiguates authors with similar names.
Q 10 ISBN/ISSN Easy

An ISBN is assigned to:

  • AA book
  • BA journal
  • CA research article
  • DA patent
View solution
Correct Option: A
ISBN = International Standard Book Number — assigned to a book. ISSN = International Standard Serial Number — for a journal.
Q 11 h-index Medium

The h-index, an indicator of a researcher's productivity AND impact, was proposed in 2005 by:

  • AGarfield
  • BHirsch
  • CBradford
  • DLotka
View solution
Correct Option: B
Jorge E. Hirsch, physicist, 2005. h-index = h papers each cited ≥ h times.
Q 12 UGC-CARE Medium

The "UGC-CARE list" was introduced to:

  • AList approved language editors
  • BList quality-assured journals for academic credit
  • CTrack plagiarism among scholars
  • DIndex Indian textbooks
View solution
Correct Option: B
UGC-CARE (Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics), 2018 — replaced the old UGC-approved-journals list; Group I (CARE-protected) and Group II (Scopus/WoS).
Q 13 Plagiarism Hard

Under UGC's 2018 plagiarism regulations, the acceptable similarity threshold per chapter in a thesis is:

  • A≤ 5 %
  • B≤ 10 %
  • C≤ 20 %
  • D≤ 40 %
View solution
Correct Option: B
UGC 2018 sets ≤ 10 % as the acceptable similarity. Higher levels trigger Level 1–4 penalties.
Q 14 Shodhganga Easy

In India, doctoral theses are deposited in the national repository called:

  • Ae-PG Pathshala
  • BShodhganga
  • CSWAYAM
  • DVIDWAN
View solution
Correct Option: B
Shodhganga (INFLIBNET, 2011) is the national doctoral-thesis repository.
Q 15 Article Section Medium

In an IMRaD article, the section that ONLY presents findings (no interpretation) is:

  • AIntroduction
  • BMethods
  • CResults
  • DDiscussion
View solution
Correct Option: C
Results = factual reporting only; interpretation belongs in Discussion.
Q 16 Reporting Hard

CONSORT is the standard reporting guideline for:

  • ASystematic reviews
  • BRandomised controlled trials
  • CQualitative studies
  • DCase reports
View solution
Correct Option: B
CONSORT = Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials. PRISMA = reviews; STROBE = observational; COREQ/SRQR = qualitative.
Q 17 MLA Medium

The in-text citation "(Smith 23)" — no comma, no year — follows which style?

  • AAPA
  • BMLA
  • CVancouver
  • DHarvard
View solution
Correct Option: B
Author + space + page = MLA (no comma, no year). MLA 9th (2021) is current.
Q 18 Metrics Hard

The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) of a journal in 2024 reflects citations to its articles published in:

  • A2024 only
  • B2022–2023
  • C2019–2023 (5 years)
  • DLifetime of the journal
View solution
Correct Option: B
JIF = (citations in year Y to articles from Y-1 and Y-2) ÷ (number of citable articles in Y-1 and Y-2). The "2-year IF". CiteScore uses 4 years.
Q 19 Style — Reference Medium

Which style places references in the order of FIRST APPEARANCE in the text, numbered sequentially?

  • AAPA
  • BMLA
  • CHarvard
  • DVancouver / IEEE
View solution
Correct Option: D
APA, MLA, Harvard list references alphabetically. Vancouver and IEEE list references in citation order.
Q 20 Match Hard

Match each citation style with its typical discipline:

(i) APA (a) Engineering / Computer Science
(ii) MLA (b) Medicine / Biomedical
(iii) Vancouver (c) Humanities / Literature
(iv) IEEE (d) Social sciences
  • A(i)-d, (ii)-c, (iii)-b, (iv)-a
  • B(i)-a, (ii)-b, (iii)-c, (iv)-d
  • C(i)-b, (ii)-a, (iii)-d, (iv)-c
  • D(i)-c, (ii)-d, (iii)-a, (iv)-b
View solution
Correct Option: A
APA → social sciences; MLA → humanities; Vancouver → medicine; IEEE → engineering.

11.18 Quick Recall

ImportantQuick recall
  • Thesis vs Dissertation vs Article: Thesis (PhD in India/UK) · Dissertation (Master’s/MPhil in India; PhD in US) · Article (peer-reviewed paper).
  • Thesis 3 big parts: Front matter (roman pages) · Main body (Arabic) · End matter.
  • Front matter: Title · Declaration · Certificate · Plagiarism report · Acknowledgements · Abstract · TOC · Lists.
  • 6 standard chapters: Introduction · Literature Review · Methodology · Data Analysis/Results · Discussion · Summary, Conclusion & Recommendations.
  • End matter: References · Appendices · Glossary · Index · Author’s publications.
  • UGC 2018: plagiarism cap ≤ 10 %; UGC-CARE list of journals.
  • UGC 2022: PhD regs — pre-submission seminar, mandatory Shodhganga deposit, ≥ 2 examiners.
  • IMRaD: Introduction · Methods · Results · and Discussion (formalised by ANSI 1972).
  • Reporting standards: CONSORT (trials) · STROBE (observational) · PRISMA (reviews) · COREQ/SRQR (qualitative) · GRADE · STARD · CARE · MIAME.
  • Indian repositories: Shodhganga (theses) · Shodhgangotri (synopses) · VIDWAN (experts) · e-ShodhSindhu (journals) · NDLI · e-PG Pathshala.
  • Identifiers: DOI · ISBN (book) · ISSN (journal) · ORCID (researcher) · PMID · arXiv ID · Scopus Author ID.
  • Latin abbreviations: et al. (and others) · ibid. (same place) · op. cit. (work cited) · cf. (compare) · e.g. (example) · i.e. (that is) · viz. (namely) · sic (thus written).
  • Citation styles: APA (social sci, 7th 2019) · MLA (humanities, 9th 2021) · Chicago (history/arts, 17th 2017) · Harvard (generic AD) · Vancouver/ICMJE (medicine) · IEEE (engineering) · CSE (biology) · AMA · OSCOLA · Bluebook · Turabian.
  • Style mnemonic by in-text form: (Smith, 2020) = APA · (Smith 23) = MLA · [1] = IEEE/Vancouver · Footnote = Chicago NB/OSCOLA/Bluebook.
  • Reference order: alphabetical (APA, MLA, Harvard) vs citation-order (Vancouver, IEEE).
  • Reference managers: Zotero · Mendeley · EndNote · RefWorks · JabRef · Citavi · Paperpile.
  • Plagiarism tools: Turnitin · iThenticate · Drillbit. AI-detection: GPTZero · Turnitin AI · Originality.ai.
  • Metrics: JIF (2-yr, Clarivate) · CiteScore (4-yr, Scopus) · SJR · SNIP · h-index (Hirsch 2005) · i10-index · Altmetrics.
  • Indian lists: UGC-CARE (Group I & II) · NAAS Score (agriculture) · ABDC List (commerce/management).