What is Referencing?
A system for acknowledging all sources used to obtain information and ideas
when writing essays or articles. Referencing involves:
- Indicating (or citing) the original author(s) as well as the specific
location of the facts, arguments and quotations you have used.
- Creating a bibliography or reference list of all sources (print and
electronic) from which you have taken information either directly (by
literal quotation) or indirectly (by paraphrase).
Why Reference?
Referencing is important to:
- Strengthen your academic argument, and show the breadth of your research,
by supporting your statements and opinions with references to
scholarly/scientific research studies.
- Ensure others reading your work can locate and consult the documents you
have listed.
- Avoid plagiarism. The University takes a serious view of plagiarism.
Even when you are not intending to copy, it is clear that submitting someone
else's work or ideas is not evidence of your own grasp of the material and
cannot earn you marks. University guidelines and other resources are
available to help you avoid plagiarism.
Selecting a Reference Style
- There are a variety of referencing styles available. Ask your
lecturer what the preferred referencing style for your course is, and if it
is acceptable to refer to Internet material in your research.
- Once you have selected a referencing style you must follow the style
consistently without mixing elements from other styles.
- The referencing styles used in the Faculty of Medical and Health
Sciences are Vancouver (a numbered style), and the American Psychological Association (APA)
Style, an author/date style.
- See Referencing Resources below for manuals and
online guides on how to set out references in a particular style.
Steps Involved in Referencing
1. Before writing your essay
Note down all the necessary details at the time you are using the material
(this will save you time later). The following details are
needed for most referencing styles, however, for more information you should
consult a style guide or manual (see Referencing Resources below):
| Books |
Journal Articles |
Electronic media and URLs |
- Author(s)/Editor(s)
- Year of publication
- Title of book
- Edition
- Place of publication
- Publisher
- Title and pages of chapter
(if appropriate)
|
- Author(s)
- Year of publication
- Title of article
- Title of journal
- Volume
- Issue or number
- Pages of article
|
- Author(s)
- Title of document
- Title of complete work
(if appropriate)
- Version or file number
(if appropriate)
- Document date or date of last revision
- The date on which you accessed/cited the material
- Url/protocol/site/path/file
|
2. In-Text Citations (in the body of your essay)
In the body of your essay you will need to refer to particular references to
show where the information or thinking came from.
- In an author/date style (e.g. APA) the citation in the text of your essay
(in-text citation) looks like this:
"The researchers found that much more DNA was being transcribed than
expected, given the number of genes that are thought to be present on these
chromosomes (Kapranov et al., 2002)".
- In a numbered style (e.g. Vancouver), each reference cited in the text is
simply given a consecutive number, so an in-text citation looks like this:
"The researchers found that much more DNA was being transcribed than
expected, given the number of genes that are thought to be present on these
chromosomes (1)".
3. Reference List (at the end of your essay)
At the end of your essay provide a list of all the resources you have cited in
the text. This is called the Reference List (or List of References).
- A Reference List includes only those sources actually mentioned
in the essay.
- A Bibliography would include
all sources used in preparing
the essay, even if you have not
specifically referred to them
in text of the
essay. However, for most
assignments, this is not what is wanted.
- Note: sometimes the term bibliography is used interchangeably with reference
list.
- Check with your
lecturer if you are unsure, and consult the
information on avoiding plagiarism.
- Your reference list should be set out according to the guidelines provided by the
referencing style you are using.
In an author/date style (e.g. APA) references are listed in alphabetical
order by author e.g.
Durie,
M. (2001). Mauri ora: The dynamics
of Maori health. Auckland, New Zealand: Oxford University Press.
Hughes,
E., & Rodgers, J. (1999). Changing times in diabetes care. Diabetes
Primary Care, 1(1), 4.
|
In
a numbered style (e.g. Vancouver) references are listed in numerical
order according to the order in which they have been cited in the text of the
essay e.g.
|
1.
Martin MJ, Hulley SB, Browner WS, Kuller LH, Wentworth D. Serum
cholesterol, blood pressure, and mortality: implications from a cohort of
361,662 men. Lancet. 1986;2:933-6.
2.
Gordon DJ, Probstfield JL, Garrison RJ, Neaton JD, Castelli WP, Knoke JD
et al. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol and cardiovascular disease;
four prospective American studies. Circulation. 1989;79:8-15.
|
EndNote
- A valuable time-saving tool, EndNote is a
specialised database programme for storing and managing references.
- Automatically download selected references from many
databases.
- Automatically incorporate references into your
Reference List or Bibliography.
- More
Information about EndNote, tutorials, user guides, filters, etc.
Referencing Resources
Resources for APA
Resources for Vancouver
Avoiding Plagiarism
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