Introduction to Referencing

An introduction to the basic principles of referencing

1. Introduction to Referencing INTRODUCTION TO
REFERENCING

2. WHAT IS
REFERENCING?

3. Introduction to Referencing Referencing is the process
of acknowledging the
authors of sources you have
consulted for your work

4. WHY INCLUDE
REFERENCES?

5. Introduction to Referencing • 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

6. WHEN TO USE
REFERENCES

7. Introduction to Referencing 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

8. CITATIONS

9. Introduction to Referencing • 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

10. PLAGIARISM

11. Introduction to Referencing 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

12. Introduction to Referencing 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

13. USING QUOTATIONS

14. Introduction to Referencing • 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

15. Introduction to Referencing • 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

16. QUOTATION MARKS

17. Introduction to Referencing • 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 ‘ ’

18. PARAPHRASING

19. Introduction to Referencing • 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

20. SUMMARISING

21. Introduction to Referencing • 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

22. COMMON
KNOWLEDGE

23. Introduction to Referencing 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

24. REFERENCE LIST

25. Introduction to Referencing • 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

26. BIBLIOGRAPHY

27. Introduction to Referencing • 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

28. REFERENCING
SYSTEMS

29. Introduction to Referencing • 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

30. HARVARD METHOD

31. Introduction to Referencing 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

32. HARVARD METHOD
FORMAT

33. Introduction to Referencing • 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

34. NUMERICAL SYSTEM

35. Introduction to Referencing • 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

36. FIGURES &
ILLUSTRATIONS

37. Introduction to Referencing • 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

38. Introduction to Referencing • 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

39. Introduction to Referencing Fig. 1 Chanel No 5 Perfume Fig. 2 Chanel interlocking ‘C’s logo
Examples

40. LIST OF FIGURES

41. Introduction to Referencing • 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

42. Introduction to Referencing INTRODUCTION TO
REFERENCING