citing papers in SoP?

[cicada2014]

is it ok to cite papers in one's SoP? I want to motivate my research interests by citing some seminal papers in the area, but I don't want to come across as superficial. Is this kosher?

[newms]

I would try to avoid this. I remember having the same question when I was writing my SoP and eventually didn't include any references. If you're talking about seminal papers, then adcoms are probably already familiar with them. Plus, the SoP is supposed to be about you, so I would advise against taking valuable space in your SoP to talk about other people's work.

[DeleteMePlease]

I sometimes put footnotes of papers that covered the research projects I was talking about. Not sure if that was a good approach though...

[eien]

I would advise against this. In your SoP you should try to convey an overview story of your academic story and achievements. Therefore, instead of:

 

"I published the article 'An improved algorithm for computer chess stalemate detection' in IEEE chess transactions, and that was a major achievement in my career"

 

You might want to say:

 

"The research I conducted in the X lab of artificial intelligence led me to publish articles in renowned journals about how to improve chess stalemate detection that had an impact on the chess community because..."

 

The right place to detail your actual publications is the CV/Resume. Also, some admission web applications provide a exclusive section to upload pdfs of your publications along with their metadata (name of journal/congress, date, place, authors). You can also create a webpage (I did that) for your potential advisors to visit, with all the details about your pubs there.

 

Good luck with your application process!

 

 

* EDIT: oh, you were asking about citing other people's work? That's surely a no-no. You can talk about them and how they influenced you, but in a colloquial way, without so many actual details.

Edited February 24, 2014 by eien

[otayeby]

If you are applying for a fellowship it would be essential, otherwise not important.

[Icydubloon]

I wouldn't include it.