What is referencing?
Referencing (also called citing) simply means that whenever you use a quote from another author’s work or use their ideas in your own work, you should acknowledge that you have done so.
You do this by providing information about the publications you have used, in the body of your text. This information is called a citation, for example (Barnes, 2018). It is also known as an in-text reference.
In addition to in-text references, you must also provide a complete list, of all the citations you use, at the end of your document. This is the reference list or bibliography.
Why should you reference?
- To show readers where your information came from
- To allow the reader to identify and check your sources
- To show how much research you have done
- To strengthen your academic argument
- To avoid plagiarism (see below)
- To get good marks on your assignments.
Plagiarism is passing off other people’s work as your own. This includes material or ideas from any sources, whether it is written, from the internet or audiovisual media, and also copying ideas from other students or academic staff.
When should you reference?
A reference is required when you:
- Use someone else’s ideas in your own words (paraphrase)
- Use a brief account of someone else’s ideas (summarise)
- Use someone else’s exact words (quote)
- Use someone else’s figures, tables or structure (copy).
Referencing is easy if you:
1. Keep accurate notes of your sources
2. Follow the author-date or Harvard method of referencing below.
The Harvard Referencing
This is the most common referencing system in use internationally. Harvard has the advantages of flexibility, simplicity, clarity and ease of use, both for the author and the reader.
There are two stages to referencing in the Harvard system:
- Citation or in-text reference to the source in your document
- Reference list or Bibliography at the end of your document with full details of the sources.
You should write down all the details of the sources that you use at the time of using them.
How to use the Harvard method
1. Citation or in-text referencing
You only need to include the author’s family name and the year of publication of the text.
According to Barnes (2018), learning languages is a substantial task for many students.
Or
Learning languages is a substantial task for many students.(Barnes 2018).
If there is no author’s name:
When there is no author, but the work was published by an organization such as a company, university, or government, you should use the name of the organization.
According to the Clever Community (2021) the main way to gain Cleverness is to study hard and practice, practice, practice.
If there is no author or organization you can use the title instead.
Slide 14 of PPT W4a n.d. states that everyone can be Clever if they try.
If there is no date:
If there is no date on the source use n.d. (not dated).
“The term ‘Cleverness’ can also be used to describe the rules that govern the ability of a group.” (Wikipedia, n.d.).
If there is more than one author:
If there is more than one author you should give the names of each author as they are shown in the original text.
Barnes, Peterson and Richards (2018) define law as…
If there are more authors you should use the first author in the original text followed by ‘et al’. (an abbreviation of the Latin term for ‘and others’).
Peterson et al (2020) state that the adoption of a management style by an individual manager depends on several factors.
Direct Quotations
When you are quoting the author’s own words without paraphrasing or summarizing, you should enclose their words in quotation marks (“…”) and give the author, year of publication, and page number (s) that the quotation was taken from.
Note: You do not need to write the word ‘page’, you just need to write ‘p.’. If the quotation comes from more than one page of the original text you need to write ‘pp.’. E.G, pp.14-15.
“It is also clear that Cleverness can be learned.” (Peterson, 2021, p.132).
If you only want to use part of a direct quote…
In this case, you use a series of dots (usually three) to show that some words are missing.
“The skill of gaining Cleverness can be difficult…and may require practice and development.” (Peterson, Alexander, and Barnes, 2018, p.178)
Three dots should also be used when you start a quotation part of the way through a sentence.
“…the task of being Clever is a substantial one for some learners.” (Make Me Clever, 2022, p.22).
Referring to Web pages in the text of your assignment
Web addresses can sometimes be very long if they contain control codes from your search. In such cases, just include enough of the address for your reader to identify the site.
Web pages often have a corporate author (see below). Where the web page has no author at all, use the title. When you are citing a web page from a large site and you do not have the author of the page, you should use the producer of the larger site as the author.
Make Me Clever (2020).
2. Reference Lists (Bibliography)
The reference list goes at the end of your text and should give enough information for the reader to locate the source referenced in the text.
“A bibliography identifies books and articles relevant to the text…” (BSI, 2000, p.16).
How to organize your reference list
The list of references or bibliography is always organized alphabetically by author (whether person or organization), or by title when there is no author.
If there is more than one publication written by the same author these should be written in date order.
Clever, S. (2018) Clever thinking skills. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
Clever, S. (2015) Clever study skills handbook. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
How to write your reference list
Books
Take the information from the book you are using.
You should include the following information in this order:
- Author(s) name written in this order:
The family name is followed by a comma (,)
Then the initial (only) of the first name is followed by a full stop (.).
Eg. Clever, S.
If there is more than one author you should use the same order that the names that appear on the title page of the book.
2. The Editors(s)
3. The name(s) or the organization responsible for writing the book.
4. The year of publication – in brackets.
5. The title and subtitle (if any)
This should be underlined, or bold, or in italics (it is important to be consistent and choose the same method for all the titles in your reference list) – followed by a full stop.
Only the first word in the title needs a capital letter.
6. The series and individual volume number (if any) – followed by a full stop.
7. The edition if not the first, for example, ‘2nd ed.’
8. The place of publication if known (usually a city) – followed by a comma.
9. The publisher – followed by a full stop.
Alexander, O., Argent , S. and Spencer, J. ((2008) EAP essentials: A teacher’s guide to principles and practice. Reading, Garnett Publishing Ltd.
Clever, S. (2018) Clever thinking skills. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
Clever, S. (2015) Clever study skills handbook. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
Marcouse, I., Gillespie, A., Martin, B., Surridge, M. and Wall, N. (2003). Business studies. 2nd ed. London, Hodder Arnold.
Journal articles
You should include the following information in this order:
1. The author of the article.
2. The year of the publication – in brackets.
3. The title of the article – followed by a full stop.
4. The title of the journal – underlined, or bold, or in italics and followed by a comma.
5. The volume number.
6. The issue or part number in brackets, month, or season of the year followed by a comma.
7. The page numbers of the article – followed by a full stop.
Wanmer, C., and Peterson, P. (2021) How To Be Clever: Cleverness in the workplace. Journal of Cleverness in Business, 2 (3) July, pp.33-34.
Newspaper articles
You should include the following information in this order
1. Author of the article where given, if not use the title
2. Year of publication – in brackets
3. Title of the article – followed by a full stop
4. Title of the newspaper – underlined, or bold, or in italics and followed by a comma
5. Date (no year needed) – followed by a comma
6. Page number(s) of the article – followed by a full stop.
Clever, S. (2018) How to reach your best.The Times, 12 July, p.6.
Electronic journal articles (E-journals)
You should include the following information in this order:
1. Author/editor
2. Year – in brackets
3. Title of article – followed by a full stop
4. Title of journal – underlined, or bold, or in italics
5. The word ‘Internet’ – in square brackets [ ] and followed by a comma
6. Volume number
7. Issue or part number in brackets, month or season of the year followed by a comma
8. Page numbers or online equivalent – followed by a full stop
9. The words ‘Available from’ – followed by a colon (:)
10. The Internet address – in angled brackets (< >)
11. The word ‘Accessed’ and the date you viewed the web page – in square brackets and followed by a full stop.
Clever, S. (2099) Clever entrepreneurship and financing. Clever Business [Internet], 35 (5) October, pp.268-285. Available from: <https://makemeclever.com/> [Accessed 29 June 2027].
Electronic newspaper articles
You should use the same format as for an e-journal article but give the date information differently.
1. Author/editor
2. Year – in brackets
3. Title of article – followed by a full stop
4. Title of newspaper – underlined, or bold, or in italics
5. The word ‘Internet’ – in square brackets and followed by a comma
6. Date (no year needed) – followed by a comma then page numbers or online equivalent if given – followed by a full stop.
7. The words ‘Available from’ – followed by a colon
8. The Internet address – in angled brackets
9. The word ‘Accessed’ and the date you viewed the web page – in square brackets and
followed by a full stop.
Peterson, P. (2018) AI is taking over the world. The Telegraph [Internet], 12 November. Available from:<http://www.Telegraph.co.uk/business> [Accessed 14 November 2018].
Web pages
Web addresses can sometimes be very long if they contain control codes from your search. In such cases, just include enough of the address for your reader to identify the site.
In your bibliography, you should include the following information in this order:
1. Author/editor
2. Year in brackets. If none is available, use ‘n.d.’ (stands for ‘not dated’)
3. Title – underlined, bold, or in italics
4. The word ‘Internet’ – in square brackets and followed by a comma
5. Edition if available (for example, update 2 or version 4.1) – followed by a full stop
6. Place of publication (if known) – followed by a comma
7. Publisher (if identifiable) – followed by a full stop
8. The words ‘Available from’ – followed by a colon
9. The Internet address – in angled brackets
10. The word ‘Accessed’ and the date you viewed the web page – in square brackets and followed by a full stop.
Make Me Clever (2020) The Difference Between Managers And Leaders [Internet], MakeMeClever. Available from: <https://makemeclever.com/leader-v-manager/> [Accessed 18th October 2028].
Dictionary entries
Dictionaries normally do not have an author as such, so the reference is based on the title of the work.
You should include the following information in this order:
1. Title of dictionary – underlined, or bold, or in italics and followed by a full stop
2. Year of publication – in brackets
3. Volume number (if applicable) or, if you are referencing the complete work, define the volume set (for example vols. 1-32) followed by a comma
4. Edition number – followed by a full stop
5. Place of publication – followed by a comma
6. Publisher – followed by a comma
7. Page number(s) of definition if appropriate – followed by a
full stop.
Oxford English dictionary. (1990) vol. 5, 2nd ed. Oxford, Clarendon.
Watch Our Clever Video – Academic Referencing Pt1
