Citation Guidelines

In the context of a thesis, the foundational and current literature on the topic should be incorporated. Since handling academic literature allows inferences to be drawn about the candidate's scholarly approach, particular care and diligence are required in this regard.

Citation

Citation refers to the literal or paraphrased adoption of statements and the provision of evidence for the claims from the used sources. Generally, all adopted thoughts and statements must be clearly identified as such; however, not every sentence needs to be supplemented with a citation. It is sufficient for it to be clearly recognizable where specific literature sources were consulted. Generally known connections, such as the profit being the difference between revenue and costs, do not need to be documented..

Citations are to be indicated in the running text, not in footnotes. The source should be specified in parentheses, as shown below. Paraphrased representations should be marked with the addition: (compare ...).

Example: ... to be able to effectively shape binding agreements between users and developers (compare Spitta 1989, p. 1).

Literal Quotations and Annotations

Literal quotations should be used sparingly, with the incorporation of the idea into one's own formulation being preferable. Only particularly concise formulations or fundamental statements warrant a literal reproduction of facts. Literal quotations should be clearly emphasized with quotation marks and italics.

Example: "...expressing the user interface requirements" (Sommerville 1992, p. 117).

Annotations or additions to passages are to be included in footnotes with consecutive numbers in the overall text. They should also be used sparingly.

Bibliography

All cited sources should be included in the bibliography. For books, always consult the latest editions. The bibliography should be arranged alphabetically; there should be no separation into monographs, articles, etc. Multiple works by the same author should be arranged chronologically; if published in the same year, they should be differentiated by the addition of a, b, c, etc. Strict attention must be paid to consistency with the citation style in the text!

The bibliography should be structured according to the Chicago Style.