LibGuides: Rural Enterprise and Agri-Business: Referencing

Why Is It Important To Reference?

What is Referencing?

Referencing is a way of showing where the ideas, theories, quotes, facts and other evidence and information you use in your assignments can be found. Any books, journal articles, websites, etc that you use to research your assignment must be referenced.

There will be two parts to every reference you use:

The in-text citation, a brief reference in the body of the text
The reference list at the end of your text, which gives the full details of the works so that your readers can follow up for themselves

Why is it so Important to Reference?

It allows you to avoid plagiarism by acknowledging that you have used ideas and written material belonging to another author.
It demonstrates the scope and depth of your research.
It enables anyone reading your work to look up your references and read them for themselves.

Referencing Styles

There are many different referencing styles, for example, Harvard, Chicago or APA.

Harvard is the style most commonly used in ATU.

Important Note: Some departments may recommend using a different referencing style or have guides of their own. In this case, use your department's guide. If in doubt, check with your lecturer / department.

The important thing to remember when referencing is to be consistent with whatever style you are using.