All about Referencing (citing): Harvard, APA and other styles

When producing academic work, it’s important to cite the various academic references from where you have borrowed information or data. There are various referencing styles such as Harvard, APA, MLA, Vancouver and a few others.

What is Referencing?

Referencing (citing) is a method of acknowledging (giving credit to) another person’s ideas which you have used in your own writing.

It is the method used to ensure that other research influences are recognised within your assignment. Referencing includes two main parts:

• a citation within the text of your assignment
• a list of references at the end of your assignment

Why Academic Works Should Reference?

Why should you reference?

• To acknowledge other writers
• To offer the reader evidence in the construction of your thinking
• To enable other to easily track down the sources used
• To evidence the body of knowledge
• To develop critical debate!

Another important reason is to avoid plagiarism – the top Universities and colleges put the assignments and dissertations of all their students through plagiarism detection software.

Correct referencing helps ensure that you avoid being accused of plagiarism. Most assignments during your time at the University will be assessed on the quality of your referencing which will count towards your grade. Referencing also ensures that you can demonstrate how your ideas build upon the research of others.

Also, If someone is reading your assignment, they should be able to use your referencing to find the sources you have used to help with your assignment. This is also useful when you read published sources – if you find an interesting source then the items on its reference list may be interesting too.

Different sources have to be cited differently
What you’re citing? Book, journal, website, image, etc. You can refer to several different types of sources, but they all have to be cited differently.

Referencing Styles & Types

Popular Referencing Styles

1. Harvard referencing system:
   Example:-
   The work of Lewis (2006), Barker et al. (2005) and Mason-Jones et al. (1997) concluded…
   It has been argued (Forrester, 1961) that the essential…
   …supply chain management is an enabler to collaboration (Towill and Christopher, 2001)
   Note et al. signifies more than 3 authors.

   Read: Harvard referencing guide

2. APA Referencing:
   this is another popular style of referencing. The basics of an in-text reference in APA:
   Include author or authors and year of publication.
   Use round brackets.
   Example: (Smith & Bruce, 2018, pp. 25-26)

Various types of referencing systems exist. You should check with your Faculty for the one they recommend. Whichever style you use, it is important to be clear, consistent and correct, making sure you include all the relevant details.

There are two types of referencing:

1. Arrangement in the alphabetical order in which the name of the author and year of publication or completion of the work in the text is mentioned.
2. Arranging in a sequence as they appear in the text of the research report.

Most of the reports use alphabetical listing of references.

Things to Consider

Following things should be taken care of:

• Arrangement in alphabetical order
• Names of the authors by title and initials
• ‘And’ is to be used between the authors
• If more than two authors, name of the first author to be followed by et al. or others
• Italics can be used for titles of printed books, names of journals, etc.
• Place of book publication precedes name of publisher separated by a colon (:).
• Relevant volume and issue numbers are mentioned in case of journals
• ‘unpublished’ word is written in case of unpublished thesis or dissertation titles.

Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2010) Cite them right: The essential referencing guide. 8th ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Useful Websites for Referencing Help

• Cite Them Right Online: Interactive website thatcovers a wide variety of source types and different referencing styles.
• CiteThisForMe.com

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