What is referencing?
Referencing is the system used to acknowledge another person's work, when you are referring to their work, either by paraphrasing their ideas or by quoting their words directly.
When preparing a piece of academic work you are expected to read the works of experts in the subject and to gather evidence that will support your opinions on a specific subject. If you quote from someone else's work, for example from a book, journal article, statistics or an Internet site, you must provide a reference to show that this is someone else's work or research and not your own. This then enables the reader to distinguish and evaluate your views and to read the sources you have used. If you use others' work without distinguishing it from your own, you will have committed plagiarism.
You need to reference your sources in the text of your assignment and this is called in-text citation. You also need to provide a list of references, or end-text citations, at the end of your chapter or work. This will show that you have read around your subject. These references are then listed in either alphabetical or numerical order.
Harvard is one of the most widely used referencing styles at Northumbria. There are many different adaptations of the Harvard style and the version that is in use at Northumbria follows the guidelines as set out in the book Cite them right.
However, there are many other different referencing styles so you should check with academic staff for their preferred method, consult your referencing guidelines and/or an appropriate style manual. To access a list of some useful texts and resources have a look at the guide on SkillsPlus called Referencing and plagiarism - a quick guide
