Why is reference style important

If it is found that you have plagiarized -- deliberately or inadvertently -- you may face serious consequences. In some instances, plagiarism has meant that students have had to leave the institutions where they were studying.

The best way to avoid plagiarism is to cite your sources - both within the body of your paper and in a bibliography of sources you used at the end of your paper. It looks like you're using Internet Explorer 11 or older. This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. If you continue with this browser, you may see unexpected results.

Citing sources: Overview. Overview Citation style guides Cite data. Manage your references Use these tools to help you organize and cite your references:. Citation Management and Writing Tools. Why citing is important It's important to cite sources you used in your research for several reasons: To show your reader you've done proper research by listing sources you used to get your information To be a responsible scholar by giving credit to other researchers and acknowledging their ideas To avoid plagiarism by quoting words and ideas used by other authors To allow your reader to track down the sources you used by citing them accurately in your paper by way of footnotes, a bibliography or reference list.

About citations Citing a source means that you show, within the body of your text, that you took words, ideas, figures, images, etc. Citations consist of standard elements, and contain all the information necessary to identify and track down publications, including: author name s titles of books, articles, and journals date of publication page numbers volume and issue numbers for articles Citations may look different, depending on what is being cited and which style was used to create them.

Notice the common elements as mentioned above: Author - R. Printed books are not the only sources that require acknowledgement. Poor referencing skills. Why is Referencing Important? Citations are not used simply to avoid plagiarism; they have other important roles too. Citations also make your writing more persuasive. Exercise: Look at the two paragraphs below: which one seems more authoritative? Paragraph one The importance, or otherwise, of lyrics in popular music, and academic approaches to song lyrics, is subject to much debate.

Paragraph two The importance, or otherwise, of lyrics in popular music, and academic approaches to song lyrics, is subject to much debate Frith, ; Shepherd, ; Fornas, The paragraphs are identical, except for the absence of citations from paragraph 1.

What kind of information do I need to reference? Reference when you are using words or ideas from: books and journal articles newspapers and magazines pamphlets or brochures films, documentaries, television programs or advertisements websites or electronic resources letters, emails, online discussion forums personal interviews lecturers or tutors. Not always necessary but check with your lecturer or tutor about their preferences before you draw on their ideas.

If the same source is referred to again in the text, the same number is used. The reference list comprises a single numbered list of citations with full details. You may also include a separate bibliography, alphabetically ordered by author, which lists works that you have used as part of your research for your assignment but not cited in the text. It looks like you're using Internet Explorer 11 or older. This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.

If you continue with this browser, you may see unexpected results. Citing references Guidance on citing references for students at the University of Reading. Available in print and online. Styles of referencing Particular referencing styles are preferred by particular academic disciplines because they work better with the kind of texts that are most commonly used in that discipline.

Find out which style is used in your Department:. Referencing styles in use in the University A list of Schools and Departments and their preferred referencing styles. Which referencing style should I use? AMS referencing style. Sources for more information 7th edition guidance A new version of the APA style was published in Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Quick Answers: references Links to a searchable blog with answers to lots of queries on APA referencing. Chicago Chicago style referencing offers two options for citations: Notes and bibliography: a numbered style, where a number in the text corresponds to a footnote or endnote containing the full reference, as in Oxford referencing.

A bibliography lists all referenced sources, plus anything you read but didn't reference. Author-date references: brief author-date citations are inserted in parentheses in the body of the text, as in Harvard referencing.

A corresponding reference list which only includes sources you have cited in your text. Chicago Manual of Style Online [full-text]. Section G for Chicago style. Harvard Also known as 'author-date' style. Citation examples in the Harvard style We've compiled a list of citation examples in the Harvard style.