Referencing Essentials
What
is referencing?
Most written work at university requires correct referencing. But
what does this mean? Evans (1995, p 52) defines referencing as ‘the labeling of
material you have drawn from other writers with enough information for the
reader to be able to locate the source’.
Reasons for referencing
Referencing
allows the reader to assess the quality of your research and your understanding
of the ideas and information gathered. In academic writing, it is expected that
you do more than repeat ideas and information from textbooks, journals or your lectures.
Referencing
will help to:
1.
Show your understanding of academic
requirements
2.
Demonstrate the breadth of your
research and provide your work with credibility
3.
Legitimate and support some of your
claims
4.
Place your work in the context of
current research
5.
Allow readers to locate and consult
the sources you have relied on in your work or incorporated into your paper
6.
Avoid plagiarism (the representation
of another’s work as your own) by accurately acknowledging the originator of
information or ideas that are not your own.
Essential components
Referencing
means indicating which information or ideas are derived from an outside source
and providing details about that source. Thus, there are usually two parts to
any reference:
·
An indicator within the text which points out that material has been drawn from
elsewhere.
·
Detailed information about the
source(s) at the bottom of the page or at the end of the paper.
Identifying sources
A reference will need to give sufficient information to guide a reader
to the original source. For printed publications, the reference needs to
identify the author, the title, the publisher, the year of
publication (and edition), the volume number (where applicable) and the page number(s) if a specific part of the work is referred to or
quoted. For example, the full reference for (Evans 1995) is:
Evans, D.G. (1995). How to Write a Better Thesis
or Report.
[NB: Punctuation, formatting and order vary
depending on the required referencing style.]
For other sources (e.g. audio-visual material, electronic resources,
interviews, legal and public documents, newspaper articles, performances and unpublished
works) different information might be required. Consult the relevant style
guide.
Keeping track of the referencing
details should be a routine step in producing a draft for an assignment.
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Find
the appropriate referencing style
The requirements for referencing differ between academic disciplines. There are more than 700
legitimate referencing styles in use and therefore it is not possible to
describe all of the rules and variations. It is important to locate a
referencing guide for the style appropriate to your subject and apply it accurately and consistently in your work.
The order, punctuation and organisation of a
reference will be different for each style and must be followed to the smallest
detail.
Two referencing systems
There are two main referencing systems: the parenthetical (in-text) system and the documentary-note system.
1. Parenthetical system
An in-text reference is made by citing the author(s) of the work(s), the
year of publication, and – if applicable – the specific page number(s) for the
information or ideas presented. The essential details of all works cited in the
paper are presented at the end in a reference list (usually called References or Works cited), in alphabetical order according to the surname of the
author.
Some commonly used examples of this referencing style are APA (American
Psychological Association), Harvard and MLA (Modern Language Association). The
following is an example of the Harvard style.
In-text reference
...the potential applications as outlined previously
have only recently been explored in more detail (Wang, Svenson & Giacomo, 2003).
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Reference List at the
end of the paper
A Reference List is a record of all the
references that are directly referred to in the paper. It does not list any
sources that were not directly referred to in the text.
Wang, L., Svenson,
K., and Giacomo, V., 1998, ‘Possible applications
of Calculon (Tournesolite) in
fusion reactors’, in W Petrov (ed.), The future of high temperature resistant
materials and coatings, Glencoe, New York, pp 53-89.
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Explanation: The reader can instantly identify the
originator of the ideas or information presented. However, in-text citations
can be disruptive when multiple sources need to be cited at a single reference
point. If the reader wants to find out more about the source, they need to consult
the reference list at the end of the paper.
2. Documentary-note system
Note systems use an in-text note identifier (usually a small raised
number at the end of a sentence). This number refers to a footnote placed at
the bottom of the page or an endnote at the end of the paper. In general, notes
are used in academic writing to shift non-essential material from the main
text. Note systems have a similar role and allow all referencing information to
be shifted from the main text to the bottom of the page or the end of the
document.
Some commonly used examples of this referencing style are
Note identifier in the
text
...until
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Footnote/endnote with
full bibliographic details
2 Gerald Kent, From candles to fibre optics: the impact of space technology on
Christmas tree decoration (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).
3 Helga Keller and Anita Rivera-Torres, ‘Artificial Christmas trees in
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If the same references are used again, they can be shortened. The repeated reference usually gives just the name of the author(s) and a shortened title. Several referencing styles use short references for all notes, including the first.
Bibliography at the
end of the paper
Since all bibliographic information is given in the footnotes, a reference list is not necessary. However, most note styles recommend including a Bibliography or Reading List which is arranged alphabetically by author surname and can include sources not directly referred to in the text but relevant to the subject. The style for bibliographies is similar, but not identical, to the notes.
Bibliography
Keller, Helga and Anita Rivera-Torres, ‘Artificial Christmas trees in
Kent, Gerald. From candles to fibre optics: the impact of space technology on
Christmas tree decoration.
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A
variation of the note system is the citation-sequence
system (also called ‘numeric system’). Like the note system, this system
uses reference numbers in the text, but each number refers to a single source
listed in a numbered reference list. Therefore, a reference number can appear
more than once in the paper and several reference numbers can appear together
at one point in the text.
Explanation: With a note referencing style, the reader has
to look elsewhere to find any information about the source that has been
referred to. This can be inconvenient but it can reduce the level of disruption
to the reading process.
Faculty referencing
guidelines
Some
departments and faculties have referencing guidelines listed on the library
website. If your department does not have a style guide for referencing and
your subject reader or the assignment sheet doesn’t nominate a referencing
style, find out the name of the style generally preferred by the
department or ask your
lecturer which style you should use. Find a printed or electronic guide
and use it to organise the
essential referencing information.
References and Resources
Evans, D. (1995). How
to Write a Better Thesis.
Gibaldi,
J. (2003). MLA handbook
for writers of research papers.
Style manual for authors, editors
and printers. (2002). (6th ed.). Revised by Snooks & Co. Milton, Qld: John Wiley &
Sons.
The
Referencing style guides, as
recommended by faculties and departments: http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/cite/index.html.
For referencing in Law subjects,
consult the Australian Guide to Legal
Citation (
ASU website on referencing:
http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/llsu/resources/referencing/referencing.html