Citing correctly in a bachelor's thesis

Reviewed by Benjamin Lohrer, editor at corrected.eu · Updated: 31 August 2026

Citing a bachelor's thesis

Correct citing starts with identifying the type of source. After that you record the author, title, date and location of the passage, process them in the style you have chosen, and finally compare the two against each other.

Identify the source type and the citing task

For the task of citing in a bachelor's thesis, the first step is a plain classification: determine what kind of source you have in front of you. Check the document itself and note whether it is, for example, a web page, a book, a journal article, a chapter in an edited volume or another type of document. Do not guess the source type. If the type of document is not clearly recognisable, find it out from the document or from the official details of the publishing body.

The citation style you choose has to fit your context. Which citation styles to use follows from the requirements that apply to your thesis. Many faculties and chairs issue guidelines for writing a bachelor's thesis. In Germany these are often a short PDF called a Leitfaden. They can contain binding rules on citing, including how to cite web sources, and further formal requirements. So check the relevant documents from your university or chair first, before you format individual entries.

For academic writing it is not enough to name a source only roughly. The source type has to match the bibliographic details. Record the author or institution, the title, the date and the location of the passage in the form that your chosen style asks for. Add a DOI or URL only if one exists for the source and your style provides for it.

Content checking and formal checking are separate tasks. For content, you clarify which statement the source is meant to support and whether the source really supports it. Formally, you clarify how the in-text reference and the bibliography entry are designed. This separation also helps you to avoid plagiarism, because you check the borrowed statement and its origin together.

Also place the citing task in the structure of your thesis. The same care applies to sources when you write an essay or a master's thesis, and the rules that apply should be consulted again each time. These terms do not replace a concrete guideline. They only mark the working steps that you carry out on your own document.

Record the details in a clear order

Build the reference in a fixed working order. Start with the source type. Only then record the author or institution, the title and the date. Next you add the location of the passage. For digital sources you also check whether a DOI or URL exists and whether your chosen style wants it included. Do not add a missing mandatory detail from guesswork.

• Source type: name the type of document from the visible source.
• Author or institution: take the name from the source and check the spelling.
• Title and date: record both separately and check that a date is actually given.
• Location: note the location that is relevant for this type of document. For a digital source, check the DOI or URL.
• Citation style: decide which prescribed form you work in.
• In-text reference: form the reference for the specific passage in this style.
• Bibliography entry: create the full entry for the bibliography.
• Comparison: check that the in-text reference and the bibliography entry point to the same source, the same author and the same assignment.

Creating a bibliography means, in this workflow, bringing together the full details from your checked sources. Giving references correctly means not only including the source but comparing its details with the in-text reference. The concrete presentation depends on the style you have established from the relevant requirements.

If you are choosing between the German citation style and Harvard referencing, do not decide on the basis of a guessed requirement. Find out instead which style is required or permitted for your thesis. Then keep to that decision for all checked sources.

Preparing the content also stays separate from the reference. When you formulate your research question you place your topic, and when you build an argument you place your reasoning. The source reference follows the concrete statement that you use in your text.

Step by step from source to reference

Work through each source as its own checking record. The result of each step should be written down before you move on to the next.

1. Secure the source: have the concrete source in front of you and work with its visible details. The result is a clearly identifiable document basis.
2. Determine the type of document: check the form of the source. The result is a named source type, for example web page or book, provided the document supports that classification.
3. Record the author: look for the named author or the responsible institution. The result is the documented form of the name.
4. Note title and date: take over only details that you find in the source. The result is a record with a title and any date that exists.
5. Add the location: check page numbers, DOI or URL where they exist for the source. The result is a traceable location without invented additions.
6. Check the requirements: look in the documents for your bachelor's thesis for the required citation style. The result is a documented style decision.
7. Form the in-text reference: transfer the recorded details into the form of the chosen style. The result is a reference directly at the statement used.
8. Form the bibliography entry: transfer the same source in full into the bibliography. The result is a complete entry.
9. Check that they match: compare both presentations. The result is either a confirmed match or a concrete list of corrections.

If the requirements cannot be found or the source gives no clear detail, stop at that point and find the missing information in the official documents. This applies particularly to the date, the author, the location and the question whether a URL or DOI should be included.

For the methodological context, you can draw on research-methods guides if you want to organise your approach. The distinction between qualitative and quantitative research does not replace determining the source type, though. For the reference you still check the concrete document and the formal requirements that apply.

A worked example of a source reference

For this worked example I deliberately choose a self-defined author-date sample style. The starting data are: institution: Example Town University; title: Writing in Seminars; date: 14 March 2026; location: https://example.invalid/writing-in-seminars. These details are sample data only and make no claim about an actual publication.

In the running text, the source is to support a statement about writing in seminars. The sentence reads: "The notes are read before one starts writing." Directly after it, in this sample style, I put the in-text reference (Example Town University, 2026). So for this example it is fixed that the institution's name and the year from the chosen starting data appear in the in-text reference.

The matching full entry reads: Example Town University (2026): Writing in Seminars. https://example.invalid/writing-in-seminars. The entry takes over the same institution, the same year, the same title and the same location. No access date is added here, because it is not provided for in this self-defined sample style. Likewise no personal name is added: the starting data contain only an institution.

The comparison stays concrete. "Example Town University" in the in-text reference is identical to "Example Town University" at the start of the full entry. The year 2026 appears in both places. The title appears only in the full entry; that is how it is defined in this sample. The location is also written out only there. If a starting detail changed, I would first check the in-text reference and the full entry side by side and form both again from the same data.

In this way one sentence, one in-text reference and one full entry make a closed application. For your own bachelor's thesis, replace the sample data with the details of the source you used. Then design both forms of reference in the citation style named by the documents that apply to your thesis.

Check the delimitation and the form separately

Finish the work with two separate checks. The first concerns the delimitation of the source. The second concerns the form of the reference.

Delimitation check

• Is the source type recognisable from the concrete document?
• Are the author or institution actually named in the source?
• Are title and date present and taken over correctly?
• Does the statement used fit the source in content?
• Was no missing mandatory detail added only because it seems plausible?
• For a web source, was it checked whether a DOI or URL really exists?

If an answer stays open, carry out a concrete check in the source or in the official documents for your thesis. Do not turn an open detail into a fact.

Formal check

• Is the applicable citation style established?
• Does the in-text reference follow this style?
• Does the full bibliography entry follow the same style?
• Do the in-text reference and the bibliography entry point to the same source?
• Are author, title, date and location assigned without contradiction in both presentations?
• Was the URL or DOI included only if it exists in the source and is provided for by the requirements?

Then check whether your bibliography matches the in-text references. Repeat the comparison after every change to the author, title, date or location. For further hints on citation styles, the German citation style or Harvard referencing, use only the requirements that apply to your bachelor's thesis. If no decision is documented there, find it in the official documents instead of guessing a style.

Sources and status

• Application: University of Bremen: www.uni-bremen.de (checked on 2026-08-31)
• Bachelor's degree, Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org (checked on 2026-08-31)

Frequently asked questions about citing in a bachelor's thesis