Forfatterårsystemet

Forfatterårsystemet, often translated as the "author-year system," is a citation method used in academic writing to indicate the source of information within the text of a document. Instead of using footnotes or endnotes exclusively, this system embeds the author's last name and the year of publication directly into the sentence or at the end of a clause or paragraph. For example, a statement might be followed by (Smith 2020) or Smith (2020) argued that.

This system is widely adopted in many academic disciplines, particularly in the social sciences and natural sciences, due to its efficiency and clarity. It allows readers to quickly identify the origin of a particular idea or piece of data without interrupting the flow of the text with lengthy citations. A corresponding bibliography or reference list at the end of the work provides the full publication details for each in-text citation, enabling readers to locate the original source for further consultation. The author-year system aims to provide both immediate attribution within the text and comprehensive bibliographic information at the end of the document, facilitating academic integrity and scholarly research.