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Academic Writing and Referencing Style: Referencing

Why you must Reference your information sources

University study, writing &/or research requires the constant use of diverse and relevant information sources.

Such information sources will be these (and more);

textbooks reference books 
(printed & online)
journal articles 
(printed & online)
lectures
laws, regulations 
& Government Reports
web sites conference papers patents & 
standards


The type of information used might be;

quotations ideas or concepts
background &/or historical materials statistics
definitions theories
experimental data images, illustrations, or pictures
equations, charts or graphs music (lyrics &/or musical phrases)

 

All sources of information (of whatever type) used in or relied upon for Assignments, Essays, Tutorials, Seminars, Presentations, Lab Reports, Group Work, etc.,must be identified in full, and in a clear, accurate and consistent manner.
 

This is known as REFERENCING (or Citing).

 

When you identify all your sources of information you are acting with ACADEMIC INTEGRITY.

Academic integrity is founded on the principles of;

  • respect for knowledge,
  • truthfulness,
  • scholarship and
  • honesty.

 

Using References

Referencing (or citing) is acknowledging the sources of information that you have used in your written work at university (for example, in an essay or a report, or in your thesis).

Citing a reference acknowledges the work of the author you have consulted and enables others to locate the item that you have cited.

Failure to provide proper acknowledgment of your use of another's work constitutes plagiarism.

To cite correctly, you need to use a referencing style: a standardized way of recording the elements of a book or journal article, or website.