Referencing

In academic work, you should always reference another person's ideas or information. Learn the basics of referencing through the tips on this page. 

Why reference

• It shows that you have read and understood relevant research
• It ensures you have given due credit to the creators of ideas and information
• It enables your readers to consult the works you have referenced
• It helps you avoid plagiarism

When to reference

You should reference any source of information you draw on in your work. This makes it clear which ideas are yours and which come from other sources. Here are two good rules to follow: 

• If the information comes from outside your own head, then cite the source.
• If in doubt, provide a citation.

How to reference

There are many different referencing styles.  Use the style required by your program or school. Check your course or module handbook, or speak to your tutor to find out which style you should be using.

• Harvard and APA use author-date in-text citations
• MHRA, OSCOLA, Chicago and IEEE use footnotes
• Vancouver and RSC use endnotes

Your work should include citations and a bibliography or reference list.

Cite Them Right offers detailed guidance on widely used referencing styles such as Harvard, APA, Chicago, IEEE, MHRA, MLA, OSCOLA and Vancouver including:

• detailed guidance on how to accurately cite different types of sources including books, journal articles, webpages, reports, government documents, laws, and AI-generated content
• how to correctly summarise, paraphrase and quote using your specific referencing style
• sample texts and reference lists

Publishers and academic disciplines may use other referencing styles. Check your Subject Guide for discipline-specific referencing guidance or contact your Subject Librarian with any questions you have about referencing. 

To find out more about the principles and practice of citing and referencing join one of our term time How to reference and avoid plagiarism workshops. 

Reference management tools

Many students and staff use reference management software to keep track of their sources and save time when writing.

The most commonly-used referencing software packages are EndNote, Mendeley and Zotero. Regardless of which one you use, it will allow you to store and organise sources, as well as quickly insert citations into a piece of writing and automatically generate a reference list or bibliography.

If you are not sure which reference management tool is right for you, we can help you:

• explore our choosing a reference manager tutorial; or
• book onto a choosing a reference manager workshop (these are run in term time only)