Whether/How to cite paper in SOP?

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axiomofchoice
Posts: 198
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 11:45 pm

Whether/How to cite paper in SOP?

Post by axiomofchoice » Fri Dec 10, 2010 7:56 pm

So if I have a paper called "On strangeness of physics graduate school admission - and a lots of adjectives and observations etc. that makes it a very long title with certain data and etc." published in journal Nonesuch, how should I mention it in my SOP? Should I say "I have a paper on xxx topic published in Nonesuch" and leave the reader to find out the name of the publication in my CV? Or should I put the full name of the paper, etc. in the SOP text, in the risk that it interrupt the flow of my sentences? Or should I do something like, ". . . my paper [1] . . . " and at the end, "[1] My name, Other names. On Strangeness....."?

I always though I would just cite the paper with latex's usual citation format, but I just compiled my tex file and it looks a bit pretentious to have a "Reference" section at the end. What do you think? How did you do it in your SOP?

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grae313
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Re: Whether/How to cite paper in SOP?

Post by grae313 » Fri Dec 10, 2010 7:58 pm

I cited my papers in the usual citation style. I mentioned the fact that I published, but a small superscripted number after the mention, and listed the full citations in tiny print at the end.

signminus
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2010 12:15 pm

Re: Whether/How to cite paper in SOP?

Post by signminus » Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:52 pm

I like the "I have a paper on xxx topic published in Nonesuch" format. When someone reads your SOP, they'll have all other components of your application in front of them, so if the full citation is listed in your CV or somewhere else, they can easily find it if they really want to. There's no need to disrupt the fluidity of your SOP. It's good to mention the name of the journal inline though, so they can quickly gauge the significance of the publication.



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