Referencing Overview

• What is referencing?
• What is the purpose of referencing?
• Which sources do I need to provide references for?
• Which referencing style should I use?
• Why do we have to use such specific formatting?
• Where are the quick guides and example sheets?

What is referencing?

Referencing is the process of citing or documenting the sources of quotes, theories ideas, illustrations and diagrams that you have used in writing your  university assignments. When we acknowledge sources in this way, we give credit to another person’s words, ideas or opinions in the form of a note and/or bibliographic reference or citation.

What is the purpose of referencing?

• To show that relevant sources have been investigated
• To enable the person reading our work to trace the original sources we have used
• To provide documentary support for an argument
• To give differing points of view of an argument
• To indicate that we have not used someone elses ideas and claimed them as our own

Referencing your work adequately will ensure that you are not accused of plagiarism.

Which sources do I need to provide references for?

• You must acknowledge (reference or cite) any work, or part of any work, that you quote, paraphrase, summarise or copy.
• You do not have to reference information that is considered general knowledge (e.g. that Wellington is the capital of New Zealand).

Which referencing style should I use?

Different disciplines and subject areas have preferred formatting conventions for citing works and formatting references. These are referred to as citation styles or referencing styles. Some commonly used styles are APA, MHRA, MLA and Harvard.

Referencing styles fit into three main categories:

• note system
• author/date system
• author /page system

Each style includes the same basic parts of a citation, but organises and formats them slightly differently. The style used depends on the subject you are working in. Visit your subject portal to find out what referencing style you should be using.

Why do we have to use such specific formatting?

Using a consistent format helps the reader to properly identify and locate the works you cited. Being familiar with the conventions of the referencing style used in your course reading lists will also make it easier to search the Library catalogue for these readings, because the formatting will enable you to recognise which part of the citation should be entered for a title search.