writingtip
Writing tip of the week
Writing – The References section
In line with a clear and pertinent introduction, the references should not be exhaustive. Most of the time you need only include the most significant or definitive reference. This might be the most recent or the first reference to the work.
Where a number of studies have shown the same thing, it is not necessary to include every single one. The exception is if you are writing a review article, in which case your referencing is expected to be comprehensive.
Therefore you should choose your references carefully.
However, it is important to acknowledge the source of all results from other papers that you refer to. If you cite results from another source without a reference then the reader will assume that they are your results.