Citing references (first time non-fiction writer)

4horses

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For a quick background... 4 years ago my GI tract became paralyzed by a virus. I ended up trying many medications without success and eventually I turned to herbal/alternative medicine for help.

China and Japan, have realized that modern medicine has failed in this area, and have been actively researching herbal remedies. I believe some of these remedies are more effective (and safer) than the medications currently available.

I'm writing a book about alternative remedies for gastrointestinal disorders. My main focus will be on herbal remedies and the research supporting their use.

Onto my questions:
When is the best time to submit a book proposal? While I'm still writing, or should I wait until I've finished my first draft?

And what style is best for citing references? APA, MLA, Chicago style? I'm thinking it would be easier to use either endnotes or footnotes. The book's primary audience is the lay person so I'm trying to keep it simple (9th grade level). I am including studies, for example:
[FONT=&quot]
In a study by the University of Hong Kong, 33 patients with Functional constipation and 20 healthy volunteers were recruited for a 4 week treatment of Kiwi fruit twice a day. At the end of the study 54.5% of patients with constipation reported improvements in symptoms. [/FONT] [FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kiwi fruit mainly works due to its high fiber content, however it also contains actinidin. Actinidin is an enzyme that can break down protein. [/FONT]

Should I put my references at the end of the chapter? End of each section, under each individual herb? Do I need to cite my sources in the middle of the text (as that generally looks more messy and is so time consuming)...
 

blacbird

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There are a lot of different ways to do what you need here, but a couple of recommendations:

First, APA citation style tends to be used most in medically-related fields, so that may be the one you want.

But how formally academic is this project intended to be? You might want to go to your local library and browse a bit among the popular medical-related nonfiction to see how recent authors have handled such formatting.

Also, consult the Purdue OWL site (google gets you there quickly). It's easily the best academic style/grammar site around, is thorough and free. They have extensive sections on APA and MLA style, including lots of examples of how to cite and reference.

Also be familiar with the on-line reference generators, which make life much easier. My favorite is www.bibme.org.

As for notes, I'd recommend end notes rather than footnotes. Much easier to format, for one thing, and from what I've seen, end notes appear to be taking the popularity away from footnotes. You could include such notes at the end of every chapter, or in total at the end of the book. I've seen it done both ways.

Also, you'll almost certainly need to provide some kind of index at the end of the book.

Hope this helps.

caw
 

dangerousbill

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Should I put my references at the end of the chapter? End of each section, under each individual herb? Do I need to cite my sources in the middle of the text (as that generally looks more messy and is so time consuming)...

Those things are up to you, except that a publisher may have its own standard. In this case, it sounds like each herb should have its own reference section, but that's just me.

As for querying, it's professional to circulate a book proposal before writing the book. Include a draft of the first chapter and one other chapter. The publisher that accepts it may have ideas or format, etc.

Get a copy of the gold standard, Michael Larsen, 'How to Write A Book Proposal'.
 

WriterBN

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I'd use AMA style, but the best way to solve the citation issue is to use software like EndNote or Reference Manager. That enables you to keep all the citations in a database, and quickly output them into any one of a bazillion styles as needed.
 

Deleted member 42

Moving this to Non Fiction, since it's really not a BWQ.
 

4horses

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Thank you all for the suggestions! I think I will start with BibMe. I wish I had known about that when I was still in college!

I will definitely check out that book on writing book proposals! I think my library has a few copies.

I'm sure I will be back with more questions later on!
 

dantefrizzoli

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Use Purdue Owl for any citation issues. That website goes over every type of citation style, but also BibMe.com is a helpful way to format the citations.
 

meangene01

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I used APA so much during my doctoral degree program and on my dissertation that whenever I cite someone in a book I almost immediately think from an APA perspective. But, I just use a footnotes section after each chapter in my books and number those sections within the chapter with a subscript number. It seems to work well and gives readers a place to verify and read more.