Recording and acknowledging your sources

Once you know which information from your reading you will bring into your work, it is important that you keep a record of where you found it and mention your sources in your essay, report or project. This process is called referencing.

Referencing not only helps readers locate the information themselves, but it also reassures them that the information is well-researched. You might be accused of academic misconduct if you do not acknowledge your sources accurately.

There are many different referencing systems according to your discipline. Humanities subjects often use footnotes, whereas science subjects tend to use in-text citations. Always check with your teacher or tutor before conducting your research as they may have a preferred style of referencing.

Most referencing systems require that you record a range of information including author details, date of publication, title of resource, publisher, place of publication, page numbers etc.

Referencing involves two steps:

First, at the point you want to refer to somebody else’s idea in your work, you will need to create an in-text citation or a footnote.

Second, you will have to create a reference for that citation in your reference list, located at the end of your work. For example:

Your reference list should be located at the end of your assignment. Entries should be in alphabetical order by author’s surname, or by title where there is no author.