Referencing

What is referencing?
Referencing, or citing, is an essential component of academic writing, as it acknowledges the sources of information you have used to complete your assignments.

Referencing is important because it:

• ensures that you are not open to accusations of plagiarism
• identifies your sources and enables readers to locate them
• acknowledges and shows respect to the author for their work
• demonstrates the validity or credibility of your arguments
• demonstrates the extent to which you know the relevant literature

What do you need to reference?
You are required to reference any information, ideas or data that are not your own, including when you have:

• quoted another author, word for word
• paraphrased or summarised information
• defined terms
• used tables, statistics or diagrams from a source

1. Discover your referencing style
2. Note the bibliographic elements
3. Cite sources within document text
4. Include reference list at end of document

1. Referencing style
As there are different styles of referencing it is essential that you consult with your lecturer, tutor or school to ensure you are using the correct style, for example, APA 6th or Harvard. You should also find out if you are required to use the EndNote software program to manage your references. This module uses examples from APA 6th (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition) and a version of Harvard (from the Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers 6th edition).

2. Bibliographic elements
Begin by recognising the type of resource you are referencing. Is it a book, journal article, book chapter or website? Then locate the elements you need to reference the resource correctly.

Book: author(s), title, edition, year of publication, publisher, place of publication, page numbers of cited material (depending on style requirements).



Look at the cover, the title page and the verso (on the reverse of the title page) for the information you need.

You can also check the catalogue record for these details. Search the catalogue for the title, on the results page click on the title to view full bibliographic details for the book.

Book chapter: editor(s), title, author(s) of chapter, title of chapter, edition, year of publication, publisher, place of publication, page numbers of chapter, page numbers of cited material (depending on style requirements).

In addition to the regular elements you find in a book reference, you will also need to look for the
editor(s), the chapter title, the chapter author and the chapter page number range. You can also check the catalogue for some of these details.

Journal article: author(s), year of publication, article title, journal title, volume number, issue number, page numbers.

Article from a Print journal: For a print journal check the cover and/or table of contents for the elements you need.

Article from a database: In addition to the regular journal article elements (such as journal title, article title etc), depending upon your referencing style, you may need to record additional details including the database the article was retrieved from, the date you accessed it and the Digital Object Identifier (DOI).

Find these details on the database results page:

Find the doi (if the article has one) on the article itself:

Web page: individual author(s) or organisation, date created, title, date accessed, URL.

You will need to record the web address (URL), the date you accessed the material, the date it was created (if available), the author/authoring body.

3. Cite sources
The purpose of citing, or in-text referencing, is to provide brief information about the sources you have used, enabling readers to locate the resource in your list of references, which will give them enough information if they wish to source the item for themselves.

When citing a reference, insert the surname of the author(s) followed by the year of publication at the appropriate point in the document. For example, Johnston (2003) or (Johnston, 2003). When paraphrasing or using a direct quote you will need to include the page number, for example, (Johnston, 2003, p. 16).

For further examples and more detailed information consult the guidelines provided to you by your lecturer or school.

4. Reference list

Generally a reference list contains details only of those works actually cited in the document. Sometimes the term bibliography is used. However, this term more accurately refers to a list that includes material consulted but not necessarily cited in the document.

A reference list should be on a new page at the end of an assignment. The list contains all the details of the works cited in your assignment. In an author-date system, the list is arranged alphabetically by author surname. The correct format for your particular style must be used, as punctuation, line-spacing and margins differ between styles. A sample reference list for Harvard or APA 6th can be seen below. Please consult your style guide for specific instructions.

What is academic integrity?

Academic integrity is ethical scholarship. This is the idea that members of the Southern Cross University community value the highest standards of honesty in their scholarship. Students should familiarise themselves with the SCU Student Academic Integrity Policy.

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is taking the words, creations or ideas of others and using it as your own without acknowledging the creator or source. It applies to written material as well as images, music, models, experiments websites and computer programs. There are different forms of plagiarism which generally fall into two categories: unintentional or intentional plagiarism.

Unintentional (or accidental) plagiarism commonly occurs due to a lack of understanding of what plagiarism is and how to cite resources accurately. Examples of unintentional plagiarism include:

• failing to include works cited or a reference list
• paraphrasing or re-wording a source without citing it
• writing summaries or paraphrases that resemble the original version
• forgetting to put quotation marks around a quote.

Intentional (or deliberate) plagiarism is cheating and occurs when someone knowingly uses the work of others and passes it off as their own. Examples of intentional plagiarism include:

• copying or using work that has been written or designed by someone else and presenting it as your own
• submitting work that been written or designed for you by someone else
• allowing others to submit your work as your own
• creating false citations

What is Turnitin?

Turnitin is a web-based system that finds similarities between submitted assignments and other documents. It is widely used in Australian and overseas universities as a tool to help students develop good writing and scholarship skills, and to discourage plagiarism. Turnitin has been set up at SCU so that students can self-check their work before submission.

Know the importance of referencing

• Know why it is important to acknowledge sources used in assignments
• Know what information needs to be referenced

Follow 4 easy steps referencing steps: Style, elements, citing, reference list

• Identify your required referencing style
• Obtain a guide to your referencing style
• Recognise different types of resources, for example, book, book chapter, journal article or web page
• Know how to identify the bibliographic elements for those resources
• Know how to cite sources
• Know how to format a reference list

Learn about academic integrity, plagiarism and Turnitin

• Be aware of the SCU Student Academic Integrity Policy
• Understand what plagiarism is, and the difference between intentional and unintentional plagiarism
• Be aware of the Turnitin assignment submission system

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