Research & Citation Skills (OCR A Level Physics): Revision Note

Online & Offline Research Skills

• Research is very important in order to gather information about others who have carried out similar experiments

• For example, when carrying out a risk assessment for a practical, the CLEAPSS Student Safety Sheets are an ideal resource

• Suitable sources to use for research include:

  • Books and textbooks

  • Scientific articles and journals

  • Reputable websites

Citing Sources of Information

• A citation is a quotation or reference to an academic text when it is included within a practical report

• The information to be included when citing sources depends on the type of resource

Referencing Books

• The following information is required:

  • Author(s)

  • Book title

  • Chapter and page numbers

  • Edition (if relevant)

  • Date published

  • Publisher

• The general format is:

  Authors (year), Title, edition, publisher’s location, publisher, pp. xxx–xxx

• Note: If the reference is to a single page then 'p.' should be used, if reference is made to several pages then 'pp.' is used

• For example:

  Young, H., Freedman, R. (2004). University Physics with modern physics, 12th ed., Boston, Addison Wesley, p. 125

• For books that have an editor or editors, include (ed.) or (eds) after the names.

• If a book does not have named authors or editors, the reference begins with the title, such as:

  CLEAPSS Laboratory Handbook (2001), Uxbridge, CLEAPSS School Science Service

Referencing Articles

• The following information is required:

  • Author(s)

  • Article title

  • Date published

  • Journal

• The general format is:

  Authors (year), ‘Article title’, Journal title, vol. no, issue no, pp. xxx–xxx

• For example:

  Aad, G, et al (2012), ‘Observation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC’ Physics Letters B vol 716, no 1, pp 1-29

Referencing Websites

• The following information is required:

  • Author(s)

  • Website title

  • Date written

  • URL

  • Date accessed

• The general format is:

  Authors (year), Title [online] Last accessed date: URL

• For example:

  Dianna Cowern (2014), Crazy pool vortex [online] Last accessed 15 June 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnbJEg9r1o8