introduction to referencing

Introduction to Referencing

INTRODUCTION TO REFERENCING

WHAT IS REFERENCING?


Referencing is the process of acknowledging the authors of sources you have consulted for your work

WHY INCLUDE REFERENCES?


• Acknowledging and crediting other’s work• Avoiding accusations of plagiarism • Demonstrate your understanding of the subject• To support your work with information from

other experts and authorities• Showing tutors the breadth of your research• Allowing your tutors to check your sources• Allowing the reader to follow up on

information you have provided

WHEN TO USE REFERENCES


References should be given when you cite the work of other authors including:• Direct Quotes• Ideas and theories that have

been published by other people• Statistics and numerical data• Figures and illustrations

CITATIONS


• A citation is when you directly refer to another author’s work in your writing

• It is when you cite the work of other authors to support your own

• Citations should be supported with a reference to the source of the work

• References are the bibliographical information included at the end of an essay in a reference list

PLAGIARISM


Plagiarism is when you present someone else’s ideas or writing as your own, either by not referencing their work correctly or by including no reference at all.

It is taken very seriously by universities and can result in disciplinary action


To avoid plagiarism:• Always make sure you include references

for all of the work you have cited• Always make sure your references are

complete and correct• Do not directly copy phrases from other

work without putting it in quotation marks and including a reference

• Make sure you paraphrase properly, using your own words

USING QUOTATIONS


• Quotations can be used to begin an essay as a talking point or introduction to a subject

• Short quotations should be included in the main body of the text and within quotation marks

• Short quotations should be integrated within sentences in the text

• Long quotations, more than 3 full lines of text, should be included as separate paragraph and indented


• Quotations should be copied accurately• Quotations can be abridged with an ellipsis

... to only include the relevant part of the text

• Additions can be made to quotations for clarification or context using square brackets []

• If a quote has a spelling error or is not grammatically correct, write it as it appears but use [sic] to indicate that this is how the words appear in the original source

QUOTATION MARKS


• Quotations embedded in the main text should be enclosed in double quotation marks “ ”

• Any punctuation that belongs with the quotation should also be included inside the quotation marks

• Punctuation that is part of your own writing should be outside of the quotation marks

• The citation within the text should be outside the quotation marks

• If you have a quotation within a quotation use single quotation marks ‘ ’

PARAPHRASING


• Paraphrasing is re-writing an author’s text in your own words

• It should explain the author’s idea or concept in a different way

• The meaning of the text should be the same but the language should be different

• Any specific language or phrases used by the author should be contained within quotation marks

• A paraphrase is more detailed than a summary• A reference should still be provided when

paraphrasing

SUMMARISING


• Summarising involves taking the key points from another text and writing them in your own words

• You can summarise you own work or the work of another author

• A summary should provide an overview • A summary should be shorter

than the original• If you are summarising an idea that

was published by someone else then you should include a reference

COMMON KNOWLEDGE


Information that is deemed as common knowledge does not need to be referenced

Common knowledge includes:• Knowledge that is shared by a community• Well known dates • Established facts• Terminology that is specific to your

subject area

REFERENCE LIST


• A reference list appears at the end of an essay

• It lists all the sources cited in your essay

• The format of your reference list will vary slightly depending what referencing system you are using

BIBLIOGRAPHY


• A bibliography appears at the end of an essay • It lists all the sources you consulted for your

essay• This included sources you used for

background information• The format of your bibliography will vary

slightly depending what referencing system you are using

• A bibliography is listed in alphabetical order• It is usually listed by the author’s surname for

each source• However there are exceptions to this format

for different types of sources

REFERENCING SYSTEMS


• There are a number of styles of referencing used in academic writing

• Different styles are favoured by different disciplines

• The main two systems used are:

• Harvard Method• Numerical Method

You should check with your tutors or course handbook which method of referencing they would like you to use

HARVARD METHOD


The principles of the Harvard method:• The Harvard method is a name and

date system• Author’s name and year of publication

included within the text• A reference list gives the full details of

material that has been cited at the end of the essay

• A bibliography, lists all source materials used but not directly cited in the essay

HARVARD METHOD FORMAT


• The format for the Harvard method varies slightly depending on the source of your information

• There are different variations to accommodate instances where there are more than one author or missing information

• Specific use of punctuation and formatting should be followed consistently

NUMERICAL SYSTEM


• The numerical system uses a number in the text to indicate a citation

• This is followed up with a correspondingly numbered reference in the reference list

• The number can be indicated in the text in parenthesis (1) or superscript 1

• The number always appears after the quotation

FIGURES & ILLUSTRATIONS


• Figures can be included in your essay where relevant

• They can be used to support what you are saying

• Illustrate something you are describing• Used as reference material• Figures can include photographs,

diagrams, illustrations, graphs and charts, stills from films or digital media


• Figures can be included within your text or at the end

• Figures should be numbered in the order they appear, for example Figure 1 or Fig. 1

• Figures should be labelled underneath with their figure number and a short description

• Figures should be referred to in the text by their number


Fig. 1 Chanel No 5 Perfume Fig. 2 Chanel interlocking ‘C’s logo

Examples

LIST OF FIGURES


• Figures should be listed in order in a list of illustrations

• The list of figures should include references to the source of the image

• The list of figures is included at the end of your essay

• In a dissertation a list of figures may be included at the start


INTRODUCTION TO REFERENCING

introduction to referencing

Education

work references

quotation marks punctuation

authors text

double quotation

text long quotations

main text

subject short quotations

text additions