On this page:
On this page you can find some useful tips on getting started with referencing.
There are lots of different styles and these formats sometimes change. Use the other pages on the guide to find out details of how to reference in the right style for your course. If you're not sure which style to use please check with your tutor.
Read on to learn the "what", "why", "when", "who", "where" and "how" of referencing.
Referencing is when you acknowledge or give credit to another person whose words or ideas you have used. It is essentially a list of evidence of where you have got your information, giving others directions to your sources so they can see what you have seen and hopefully how you have come to your conclusions.
You've probably seen references before as an in-text citation, as a footnote or in a reference list.
Important: the format you are expected to use might be different to the one below. Please use the correct guide for your course which you can find on our other pages. Ask your tutor if you are unsure.
An in-text citation is when an author is named in the main text of your assignment, along with the year their work was published and sometimes with a page number. It might look something like this:
According to Aveyard (2015, p. 30) the 'six questions of critical thinking' can be used to...
Important: the format you are expected to use might be different to the one below. Please use the correct guide for your course which you can find on our other pages. Ask your tutor if you are unsure.
A reference list (sometimes called a bibliography) should include everything you have used to create your assignment, even if you haven't cited it directly in the main text. It should be arranged alphabetically by the author's surname.
It includes more information than the in-text citation. A reference list might look something like this:
Aveyard, H. (2015) A Beginner's Guide to Critical Thinking and Writing in Health and Social Care. Maidenhead: Open University Press
Cottrell, S. (2019) The Study Skills Handbook. London: Red Globe Press
Think of it like sharing something you've found online that you know your friend will like: you don't simply tell them about it or recreate it, you share it so they can see for themselves. Or perhaps your friend likes your new hat and would like to buy one: rather than pretending you made it yourself, you would tell them the name of the shop and give them directions to find it. Referencing your work is a bit like this.
Referencing benefits you, your reader, and the original creator whose ideas you have used. Doing it correctly can help you to:
Most importantly, if you do not reference correctly you may accidentally commit academic misconduct, which is very serious. You could lose marks on your assignment, or be disqualified from your course altogether
Plagiarism is when you use someone else's work without giving them credit. This means you are passing someone else's work off as your own, which amounts to cheating.
By referencing everything honestly you can avoid plagiarism, as you are acknowledging when something isn't your own work.
Thinking critically about a source is when you take time to check whether its arguments add up and assess the value and reliability of the source itself.
The process of referencing can help keep your critical evaluation on track. For example:
None of the above means you shouldn't use those sources, but if you do use them then the answers to those questions should influence how you analyse them in your assignment. By following up references correctly and paying attention to what you are citing, you are improving the academic quality of your work.
Academic misconduct is when someone lies about the originality or truthfulness of their work. It includes things like copying someone else's work, falsifying data, or getting someone else to sit an exam for you. It is taken very seriously and there could be consequences such as losing marks for an assessment or not being allowed to complete your course.
Plagiarism is another form of academic misconduct, and you could still get in trouble even if you forget to reference something by accident. It is easy to avoid plagiarism by making sure you reference your sources accurately and honestly, and keep track of references and you find them.
Here are a few simple questions to ask yourself if you're not sure whether you need to include a reference in your work:
If the answer to any of these is "yes" then you need to include a reference.
You need to reference any words, ideas or evidence you have used which are not your own, even if it is not from a named person. Aside from books, other common sources of information are government publications, photographs, news websites, or guidelines from professional bodies.
You even need to reference the creators or publishers of less traditional sources which you might have just "found on the internet". This includes social media posts, AI-generated content, podcasts and personal conversations. There is a format for referencing pretty much anything!
When you use someone else's words, ideas or data in the main body of your text, this is called an in-text citation. There are a few different ways of using sources in your assignment, such as a direct quote, a narrative citation, and a paraphrased version of someone else's words.
At the end of your assignment you need to include a reference list (sometimes called a bibliography). This should include everything you have used to create your assignment, even if you haven't cited it directly in the main text. It should be arranged alphabetically by the author's surname.
A direct quote is when you use someone else's exact words. They are shown within quotation marks, and should include a citation with a page number if possible.
For example:
'The idea that academic skills relate only to work within classrooms is unsafe and outdated' (Aveyard, 2015, p. 130).
Direct quotations should be no more than a couple of lines long. Try to use them sparingly. You will get better marks if you paraphrase or summarise the source instead.
Important: the format you are expected to use might be different to the one above. Please use the correct guide for your course which you can find on our other pages. Ask your tutor if you are unsure.
A narrative citation is when you include the citation (usually author and date) as part of your sentence rather than in brackets at the end. For example:
Aveyard (2015, p. 130) argues that 'the idea that academic skills relate only to work within the classroom is unsafe and outdated'.
Narrative citations can improve the "flow" of your writing, making it easier to read and encouraging you to think more carefully about what you are quoting.
Paraphrasing is when you put someone else words into your own words. You don't need to include quotation marks as it is not a direct quote, but you still need to include a citation. For example:
Aveyard (2015, p. 130) argues that learning critical thinking skills in the classroom is vital for students to succeed in a professional context.
Paraphrasing helps show that you have thought carefully about a source and that you understand the wider context of a quote. It also means you can phrase the information in your own style, improving the "flow" of your work and including more precise information.
Important: Be very careful not to change the original meaning of whatever you are paraphrasing
A reference list (sometimes called a bibliography) should include everything you have used to create your assignment, even if you haven't cited it directly in the main text. It should be arranged alphabetically by the author's surname.
It includes more information than the in-text citation. An entry in a reference list might look something like this:
Aveyard, H. (2015) A Beginner's Guide to Critical Thinking and Writing in Health and Social Care. Maidenhead: Open University Press
Cottrell, S. (2019) The Study Skills Handbook. London: Red Globe Press
Important: the format you are expected to use might be different to the one above. Please use the correct guide for your course which you can find on our other pages. Ask your tutor if you are unsure.
The type of referencing you use depends on your course and validating insitution. If you are not sure what format to use, please check your course handbook or confirm with your tutor.
Please choose the correct one from the options below: