How many sources do you need to use in college paperwork?
If you want to get a college degree, you have to prepare a research paper. It will be a foundation for a future thesis and impact the graduation results. And if students hope to succeed, they should take this requirement seriously and fit their academic papers to all rules. Let's explore the source standards for college research paperwork in more detail.
What Is the Precise Number of the Sources To Be Used?
This essential factor relies on three core aspects. Let's review each of them:
Internal Requirements
Some colleges have specific guidelines for students. According to them, the number of sources to be cited depends on the degree program. For instance, the maximum volume of citations for the B.Sc students may be limited to 10 sources, while some other academical institutions require more written works (up to 20 in-text citations). But most colleges do not have specific guidelines for the number of sources to cite, so students can decide by themselves how many sources they want to mention in the academic paperwork.
Personal Predilections
In most cases, a college research paper requires that learners be honest with themselves while choosing the number of sources to cite. It means that each student has to analyze all the academic text properly. For instance, the learner read ten books, five scientific journals, and four newspaper articles when preparing to write a piece for a college degree. Thus, the research paper author needs to mention all these works in the bibliography (it is 19 sources exactly) and distribute all these references into the entire text. But if the number of sources in the bibliography is lesser, the student will be accused of plagiarism. This fact will affect the final work grade and the reputation in the professors' eyes since borrowing sources without mentioning them is strictly prohibited. Therefore, you need to avoid plagiarism, whatever it takes, because a flawless college paper is a guarantee of an A+.
Type of the College Paperwork
In the big scheme of things, this factor affects the number of sources that should be mentioned in the college research paper. When students have to write a thesis or a term paper, they should add a lengthy list of references. The reason is simple: students need to read dozens of written works (books, articles, monographs, etc.) to create such paperwork. As for an essay, five sources are not enough to do proper research. Tutors recommend citing a bibliography of at least 15-20 sources. Let's review it once again: you do not need to use dozens of articles to cite for 1500 words of research paperwork. The professor regards such a big number of sources as overkill and will undoubtedly reduce your final grade. It is much better to use a bibliography of 5-7 sources. The rule here is not to overdo the study; otherwise, your paper will not have value as a basis for awarding an academic degree.
