References and citations explained

Please use the new referencing webpages which are now available.  

The pages here will be withdrawn shortly.

So what are references and citations? Whenever you quote from or paraphrase work written by another author, you must acknowledge that you have done so. This acknowledgement is known as a citation and consists of brief details of the publication (e.g.: Pichel, 1994) given in the body of your text. You also have to give a complete list of these citations at the end of your assignment in a reference list or bibliography section. This consists of fuller details of the publication (e.g. PICHEL, M. 1994. Teeth and gums: an owner's manual. 2nd ed. Oxford: Gamma Publishing).

Citing your references should provide the reader of your assignment with enough information to find the sources of information you have consulted during the course of writing and researching your work. Acknowledging your sources of information also helps to demonstrate how widely you have read around your subject, and on what authority you base your arguments or conclusions. Properly acknowledging the sources of information that you use when conducting your research is also important in order to avoid plagiarism.

Online tutorials

The Library provides tutorials which take you step-by-step through how to use different referencing systems:

Referencing with the Harvard system (opens in a new window)
Referencing with the Numeric system (opens in a new window)
Referencing with the MHRA system (opens in a new window)

Acknowledgments

The details given by Leeds University Library on referencing are based on the British Standards:

BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. 1983. BS 6371:1983. Recommendations for citation of unpublished documents. Milton Keynes: BSI

BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. 1989. BS 1629:1989. Recommendations for references to published materials. Milton Keynes: BSI

BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. 1990. BS 5605:1990. Recommendations for citing and referencing published material. Milton Keynes: BSI

BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. 1997. BS ISO 690-2:1997, Information and documentation - Bibliographic references. Part 2: Electronic documents or parts thereof. Milton Keynes: BSI

In constructing this resource we have consulted many other webpages concerned with referencing and citations. Thanks to all the authors of those pages, most notably:

• Dartmouth College
• The International Organisation for Standardisation
• Staffordshire University
• The University of Canberra
• The University of Nottingham
• The University of Queensland
• The University of Stirling