Introduction to Referencing and Citation
The first step after locating/retrieving the resources is to carefully assess your information resources.
Your success in academic writing depends on:
- How well you understand your task as you write.
- How you approach and tackle the assignment.
You must read the resources you consult critically, pulling out the most relevant information to support your assignment. Writing the assignment involves more than just constructing grammatically correct sentences or organizing paragraphs neatly.
To successfully complete an assignment, you must use your research skills, your ability to comprehend complex texts, and your capacity to respond thoughtfully to new information.
This Unit will help you understand how to reference correctly as it is a key to your academic success. Referencing is the practice of giving credit to the sources you use in your assignments and research. It shows where you found your information and allows others to follow your research path.
A: What is Citation?
Citation is the act of specifically acknowledging sources within the body of your work. Each time you directly quote, paraphrase, or refer to information from another source, you create a citation, usually in the form of a note, footnote, or in-text reference. Citations typically include brief details like the author’s last name and publication year, which correspond to full references at the end. This helps readers easily see which parts of your work are supported by evidence and gives credit to the original authors.
Certainly! Here’s an example of how referencing and citation might look in an academic assignment, using Harvard Referencing Style as an example.
Example of Citation (In-Text):
Imagine you are writing an assignment and want to include information from a book written by John Smith, published in 2020, titled Introduction to Information Literacy. Here’s how you might cite it in the text:
“Information literacy skills are essential for academic success” (Smith, 2020: 15).
C: Academic Integrity
Academic integrity means being honest and responsible in your studies. It includes properly acknowledging any ideas, data, or words that come from others. By referencing correctly, you avoid plagiarism—using someone else’s work as if it were your own—and contribute to a fair, respectful academic community. Following Sol Plaatje University’s guidelines for referencing is a part of this commitment to integrity.
SPU expects that its staff and students will undertake their research activities with honesty, integrity and due care for life and the environment. In this regard, SPU fully subscribes to the principles and responsibilities contained in the Singapore Statement on Research Integrity.
Integrity of Scholarship: SPU considers plagiarism in research in a very serious light. This is the practice of passing other people’s ideas, materials, literary works, concepts or creative works as one’s own. Researchers must always properly acknowledge and credit the work of others in their own work. Furthermore, all persons who were substantively involved in the conceptualisation, analysis and interpretation of results, writing or revision of the intellectual content of a scholarly work must be acknowledged as collaborating authors in publication of the work.
For more information visit SPU Policy on Research, Ref no: SEN/011
E: Elements of Reference
A reference must include the following elements:
B: What is Referencing?
Referencing is the process of listing all the sources you consulted or cited in your work, providing details that allow readers to locate each source themselves. This list, often found at the end of an assignment or paper, includes important information about each source—such as the author’s name, publication date, title, and publisher.
Referencing is important because it shows respect for other authors' work, strengthens your own work with reliable evidence, and prevents plagiarism.
Make sure to include references for all types of sources you use, including:
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Books
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Articles
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Internet sites
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Interviews
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Government documents
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Nonprint media (DVDs, videotapes)
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Database sources
Example of Referencing (Reference List):
At the end of your assignment, you’ll include a full reference for the book in a list, often titled References or Works Cited:
Smith, J. (2020). Introduction to information literacy. Academic Press.
D: Sol Plaatje University Referencing Guide
In this section, you’ll learn the basics of referencing and find helpful tips for avoiding common mistakes. The SPU Referencing Guide is a vital tool designed to help students properly cite and reference the sources they use in their academic work. This guide provides detailed instructions and examples on how to format references and in-text citations accurately, following the citation style preferred by SPU.