The aim of the term paper is to convey a subject-related scientific issue in written form. In doing so, the topic already presented in the paper is systematically presented and critically discussed within the framework of a selected issue. Different theses and research opinions may be elaborated in more detail here.

The writing of scientific texts always requires the proof of facts and evidence. This proof is provided by footnotes in the text, in which the evidence must be cited (literature, ancient text sources, etc.). A citation therefore serves not only to prove facts, but also to distinguish the thoughts and findings of third parties from one's own.

The correct citation guarantees the comprehensibility of the argument and protects the intellectual copyright of third parties. Failure to use the correct citation violates scientific ethics (plagiarism!).

Each scientific discipline has its own citation guidelines. Classical Archaeology cites according to the guidelines of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), Archaeology of the Roman Provinces cites according to the guidelines of the Roman-Germanic Commission (RGK). Digital and Computational Archaeology accepts all citation guidelines as long as they are consistent.

You can access the DAI guidelines here:

• Keyword list (EN)
• Abbreviation for Journals (EN)
• Other Abbreviations (EN)

You can access the RGK guidelines (in short version) here.

For an automatic creation of literature lists during the writing of longer papers, bibliography programs can be used, which arrange the selected literature and summarize it in a database.

However, when generating literature lists for term papers or theses, please note: Despite entering the appropriate guidelines, literature is not always cited correctly. An additional check is therefore unavoidable.

The most common bibliography programs are:

• Citavi
• Zotero

Further information on the structure of a term paper, formalities and bibliography programs can be found here.