Why is Referencing Important?

Citations are not used simply to avoid plagiarism; they have other important roles too.

Referencing allows you to acknowledge the contribution of other writers and researchers in your work.
Any university assignments that draw on the ideas, words or research of other writers must contain
citations.

Referencing is also a way to give credit to the writers from whom you have borrowed words and ideas.
By citing the work of a particular scholar, you acknowledge and respect the intellectual property rights
of that researcher. As a student or academic, you can draw on any of the millions of ideas, insights and
arguments published by other writers, many of whom have spent years researching and writing. All you
need to do is acknowledge their contribution to your assignment.

Referencing is a way to provide evidence to support the assertions and claims in your own assignments.
By citing experts in your field, you are showing your marker that you are aware of the field in which you
are operating. Your citations map the space of your discipline and allow you to navigate your way
through your chosen field of study, in the same way that sailors steer by the stars.

References should always be accurate, allowing your readers to trace the sources of information you
have used. The best way to make sure you reference accurately is to keep a record of all the sources you
used when reading and researching for an assignment.

What is referencing?

Academic writing relies on more than just the ideas and experience of one author. It also uses the ideas
and research of other sources: books, journal articles, websites, and so forth. These other sources may
be used to support the author's ideas, or the author may be discussing, analysing, or critiquing other
sources.

Referencing is used to tell the reader where ideas from other sources have been used in an assignment.
There are many reasons why it is important to reference sources correctly:

It shows the reader that you can find and use sources to create a solid argument

It properly credits the originators of ideas, theories, and research findings

It shows the reader how your argument relates to the big picture

(For a detailed discussion, see why reference?)

What needs to be referenced?

Whenever an assignment uses words, facts, ideas, theories, or interpretations from other sources, those
sources must be referenced. Referencing is needed when:

You have copied words from a book, article, or other source exactly (quotation)

You have used an idea or fact from an outside source, even if you haven't used their exact wording
(paraphrasing and summarising)

The only exception to this is when the information is common knowledge, which is something that
anyone is likely to know. If you are uncertain whether to reference something or not, it is better to
reference it.

Citations and references

There are two elements used in referencing:

A citation in the text of the assignment (also known as in-text citations)

An entry in a reference list at the end of the assignment

The citation contains only enough information for the reader to find the source in the reference list.
Usually, this is the name of the source's author and the year the source was published. For example:

When testing the usability of a website, it is necessary to gather demographic information about the
users (Lazar, 2006).

In this example, (Lazar, 2006) tells the reader that this information has come from a source written by
Lazar, which was published in 2006. This is a signpost, pointing the reader to the reference list.

The reference list is a list of all the sources used (and cited) in an assignment. It is alphabetised
according to the names of the authors. Each entry in the reference list contains detailed information
about one source. This usually includes the author's name, the year of publication, the title of the
source, and other publication details.