Referencing

Students often get worried about referencing correctly but referencing is really quite straightforward. The first thing to remember is that it is all about giving credit to those whose ideas you use in your work. The second important point is that it shows you have used good quality, reliable sources for your research. Referencing simply means that you give your tutor (or any reader) information about the resources in which you found your information. This can be referred to as fair practice or avoiding plagiarism. Plagiarism is considered to be a serious academic offence as this definition from Bath Spa University's Unfair Practice Policy shows:

Plagiarism is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘the taking and using as one's own, the thoughts, writing or inventions of another’. It does not matter whether the source was an original document, a book or article, or a fellow student.

Careful use of a referencing system is the best way to avoid accusations of plagiarism and demonstrate that you have used your sources correctly. Most students at Bath Spa University use Harvard referencing and we use the Cite Them Right Online version of Harvard. Access Cite Them Right Online through the Library website's 'Researching and Referencing' link to get help with formatting both in-text citations and the reference list. The Writing and Learning Centre will help with referencing queries and of course you can also use the Library's 24/7 Chat service for quick queries.

Harvard referencing has two elements: one is an in-text citation which shows your reader where a particular piece of information in the text has come from. You need to include the author’s surname and the year of publication in the in-text citation and this will guide your reader to the second element, the more detailed reference list at the end of the assignment.

In-text citations examples:

(Burgess, 2018)

Burns and Sinfield (2012, p.46) report that....

Reference list example:

Burgess, H. J. (2018) ‘The importance of critical thinking for early years researchers’, The Journal of Childhood Studies, 21(1). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/3336451.0021.105.

Burns, T. and Sinfield, S. (2012) Essential study skills: the complete guide to success at university, 3rd edn. London:Sage Publications.

Equality Act 2010, c.15. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents (Accessed: 23 June 2019).

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2018) International early learning and child well-being study. Available at: http://www.oecd.org/education/school/international-early-learning-and-child-well-being-study.html (Accessed: 30 June 2019).

General referencing guidelines:

  • You will need to reference everything you use in your assignment: quotations, facts, images, figures, ideas and theories.

  • The best place for 24 hour help and guidance is to use the Cite Them Right Online website. Access this through the library website and it will help you with advice on the basics and on the formatting of your reference list. Use it for a variety of sources, from books to blogposts.

  • You can also speak to an advisor in the WLC if you have a query or contact a member of the Library team via Chat. Chat is a 24 hour service for any Library queries.

  • Referencing shows what we have read and where we get the ideas and theories that we include in our discussion in an assignment. The key to good referencing is to give enough information so that your tutor can find the resource you used. Keep that in mind, use Cite Them Right Online.