Editing Reference Lists

Authors who use Kibin's Academic and Student editing segments expect polished references and citations. When you edit a document with a reference list of any kind, please take the time and care to ensure the citations conform to style guide rules. If you’ve never worked with style guides before, that’s okay! You can learn as you go. It might take some time, but once you start to recognize citation patterns, editing reference lists is a breeze.  

Note: If the author does not provide a style guide and you cannot identify the referencing used, please resolve any inconsistencies in the reference list and in-text citation formatting. 

First thing’s first -- Find a reputable resource to check the author’s citations against. A quick Google search will almost always turn up official style guide rules, but we've compiled resources for common guides that should give you the correct information. Avoid citation builders because they don't always follow the correct rules and can dump out citations that aren't quite right.

Now that you have a resource to work from, dive into the reference list. Identify the source type, and edit the structure, punctuation, formatting, and content of the citation as needed according to those guidelines. Use the Find tool to check that the author has a corresponding citation in the text and note any discrepancies. 

A few more tips 
  • If the reference entries are missing information, you don't have to scour the internet to find that unknown volume number or the exact year in the 1800s that a book was published. You can simply leave a comment telling the author what's missing and refer them to their original source. If you don't mind finding this information for the user, feel free to do so (sometimes it can be easier than leaving a comment). It might be helpful to note that they should verify what you've added to the reference list just in case. 
  • Editing the reference list before you edit the text is a best practice when you’re unfamiliar with a style guide. 
  • If you have a particularly tricky style guide question you can’t answer, ask your fellow editors and the CHCs in the Water Cooler. Word nerds to the rescue! 
  • Use the Find tool to edit in-text citations as you edit the reference list; then, double-check your work while you edit the text. 

What should I do if...

  • The author provided only links/book titles/etc.? Some users will include only links or titles of articles/books on their works cited page with the expectation that we'll create their citations. We can always fix up content that's already created, but we cannot create content. In these cases, you can reformat one or two entries as an example for the author, and then link them to a resource and let them take it from there. In the end, this is a good exercise for the author; after all, they should learn how to write a citations page!
  • The user wants me to change the format to another style guide? A complete style guide overhaul is definitely outside the scope of Kibin's services. Not only is this time consuming, but it can also be considered plagiarism. To address this, you might link the user to the style guide they need and maybe do one bibliography entry as an example to get them started. Your comments to the user might include something like this: 
Your note asked that we convert your paper from MLA to APA. This is unfortunately outside the scope of our services because we can't create new content for you. That being said, I provided links to some great APA resources in my document comments, and I changed your first entry from MLA to APA to show you how it's done. This will help you fix up the rest on your own. :)