OpenUp Study Skills: Life at university


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Referencing

It is an expected academic practice that students will refer to (or cite) the sources of ideas, data and other evidence in written assignments. Referencing is the practice of acknowledging in your own writing the intellectual work of others; work that has been presented in some way into the public domain.

Education needs ideas, arguments and perspectives to thrive, but these have to be tested rigorously and subjected to the critical scrutiny of others. This is done by researching, preparing and presenting work into the public domain. This is a formidable task for any writer or commentator, and one that can take years to achieve. Referencing is then, about respecting and honouring the hard work of writers and commentators – by acknowledging them in your assignments.

Referencing can also help you to find your own voice in assignments, by helping you write essays and reports that project or reflect the way you see or perceive things. Evidence presented and correctly referenced supports and strengthens your opinions - and converts them into arguments.

ISBN-13: 9-780-335-22089-2 £17.99 August 2007

Quiz

To test your understanding of when to reference, try answering the questions in the quiz below. Look at the following situations that can occur when writing assignments and decide if a citation is needed. Print it off, answer the questions, then click here to check the answers.

	Yes	No
1. When you include tables, photos, statistics and diagrams in your assignment. These may be items directly copied or a source of data collation which you have used.
2. When describing or discussing a theory, model or practice associated with a particular writer.
3. When you summarise information drawn from a variety of sources about what has happened over a period and the summary is unlikely to be a cause of dispute or controversy.
4. To give weight or credibility to an argument that you believe is important.
5. When giving emphasis to a particular idea that has found a measure of agreement and support amongst commentators.
6. When pulling together a range of key ideas that you introduced and referenced earlier in the assignment.
7. When stating or summarising obvious facts, and when there is unlikely to be any significant disagreement with your statements or summaries.
8. When including quotations.
9. When you copy and paste items from the internet and where no author’s name is shown.
10. When paraphrasing or summarising (in your own words) another person’s work that you feel is particularly significant, or likely to be a subject of debate.