Referencing

Referencing is the acknowledgment of the sources you used when producing your piece of work. Referencing correctly is important to demonstrate how widely you have researched your subject, to show the basis of your arguments and conclusions, and to avoid plagiarism.

You need to give the person reading your assignment enough information to find the sources you have consulted. This is done by including citations in your work and providing a list of references.

Citations
Whenever you use someone else's ideas, either by putting them into your own words (paraphrasing) or by quoting directly, you must show this within the body of your work. This is known as a citation. The format will vary depending on the referencing style you use.

References
At the end of your assignment you will need to provide a list of references - full details of the sources you used when writing your assignment. Your references may take the form of either a reference list or a bibliography.

Referencing activities
Knowing when and where to reference is key to avoiding plagiarism.

• Referencing tutorial
• When to reference (activity)
  Identify in which circumstances you need to include a reference
• Where to reference (activity)
  Identify at which points in a text you need to include a reference
• Skills@Library plagiarism page
  Further advice, information and activities on what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.

Sometimes referred to as the author-date style, this is one of the most commonly used styles of referencing. There is no single producer of the Harvard style (it is not written by Harvard University). Library guidance is based on the British Standard for referencing.

Always check the referencing requirements of your school as they may differ from these.

• How to reference a variety of sources
• Inserting citations (references within your text)
  
• Reference lists and bibliographies
• Using and citing quotations
• Common issues
  
• Harvard referencing tutorial
• Harvard: quick crib sheet (PDF)
  
• Book onto a referencing workshop.

Also known as the Numbered style. Library guidance is based on the British Standard for referencing.

Always check the referencing requirements of your school as they may differ from these.

• How to reference a variety of sources
• Inserting citations (references within your text)
• Reference lists and bibliographies
  
• Using and citing quotations
• Common issues
• Numeric referencing tutorial
• Numeric: quick crib sheet (PDF)
  
• Book onto a referencing workshop.

MHRA is also known as the Footnotes style. This style is produced by the Modern Humanities Research Association. The Library 'basic guide' document was co-written with the School of History: guidance from other schools may differ.

• MHRA basic guide
  Co-written by the Library and the School of History (guidance from other schools may differ)
• MHRA style guide
  Full guide from the MHRA
• MHRA referencing tutorial
  
• Book onto a referencing workshop.
  

This is a numbered referencing style, most often used within medical disciplines. The guidelines for this style are set by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

• Vancouver style guide
  Full guide from the National Library of Medicine
• Vancouver referencing tutorial.

This is a style of referencing used in Law. It is produced by the Oxford Law Faculty at the University of Oxford.

• OSCOLA guidelines
  Full guide from the University of Oxford
• Tutorial on legal referencing
  Provided by Cardiff University.
  

This has an author-date format similar to the Harvard style, and is usually used within psychology and related disciplines. It is produced by the American Psychological Association.

• Basics of APA style tutorial
  Tutorial from the American Psychological Association
• Concise rules of APA (book).
  

• Skills@Library EndNote pages: guides, online tutorials, workshops
  EndNote not only helps you to store and manage your references, it also works with Microsoft Word to automatically insert citations and create your bibliography or reference list for you.
• Skills@Library Referencing tools page
  Detailed information about what other referencing tools are available.