How many references do you use?

ames123_2

studentphil wrote: »

I would not know where to find 80 different texts to refrence let alone use them.

They don't have to all be different texts.

I'm about 30 for 3000-4000 words.

aurora_borealis_2

ames123 wrote: »

They don't have to all be different texts.

I'm about 30 for 3000-4000 words.

I'm talking about different texts, i.e. the number of references listed.

studentphil

ames123 wrote: »

They don't have to all be different texts.

I'm about 30 for 3000-4000 words.

Oh well if you are not talking different texts then if will be far less than 80 different sources.

When I say 15 i mean 15 sources and not 15 quotes.

In my subject independant thinking is far far more important than quoting.

celyn90

It really does depend on what sort of piece you are writing and also your subject, although I tend to try and advise people to look for primary sources and original papers rather than textbooks if they can help it.

I end up citing alot too, but that's just my field - often there is no right answer and you have to search through a massive stack of papers and comunications to get an overview of the ideas and examples in the field. If you have access to online stuff, I do find the search programs like Scopus and PubMed really useful - Scopus certainly lets you track citations and see what came before/afterwards in terms of research as well as often presenting an abstract so you can judge the relevance of what you find quickly. Learning how to use EndNote also made my life significantly easier!

lisa_75

I am in my 3rd year studying social policy and tend to use one reference for every 100 words. So for a 3000 word essay I use about 30 sources. In my first year I probably used much less than this, but the quality of my work is reflected in this. I always get high marks and believe that well researched essays are the key.

To be honest I would find it impossible to use only 10 or so references in a 3000 word essay in a social science subject.

melancholly

celyn90 wrote: »

Learning how to use EndNote also made my life significantly easier!

oh yes! in my final phd thesis i think there will be about 500 refs - doing them by hand would be horrible!

DrFluffy

IIRC, there's already a thread on this from a few months back.

Generally, for 1500 words, I have between 30 and 50 refs.

ames123_2

Ok, I think I have conufused what you meant, I think.
When I say 30 refs I meant, 30 footnotes/endnotes. But some are from the same source.

Do you all mean how many different books/articles etc you used?

lisa_75

ames123 wrote: »

Ok, I think I have conufused what you meant, I think.
When I say 30 refs I meant, 30 footnotes/endnotes. But some are from the same source.

Do you all mean how many different books/articles etc you used?

I did, yes. For a 3000 word essay I would use 30 different books/journals. I will only use a book once in an essay, maximum twice if it is very good.

Catseyez

When I asked the question, I was referring to the number of different sources (books, journals etc) that appear on the Reference list at the end of an essay.