The Library recommends using these publisher’s official referencing manual where possible.
Style | Publisher's manual | Digital alternative |
---|---|---|
APA 7th | (Print) Publication manual of the American Psychological Association : the official guide to APA style. (7th ed.). (2020). American Psychological Association |
Academic Writer (Learn section) |
Harvard | (Print) Style manual for authors, editors and printers (6th ed.). (2002). John Wiley & Sons. | University of Sydney Guide to Harvard Referencing Style. |
AGLC4 | (Online) Australian Guide to Legal Citation (4th ed). (2021). Melbourne University Law Review Association Inc https://www.mulr.com.au/aglc/AGLC4-2021-v1.pdf | |
Chicago 17th A | (Online) The Chicago manual of style. (17th edition.). (2017). The University of Chicago Press. https://www-chicagomanualofstyle-org.ezproxy.library.sydney.edu.au/book/ed17/frontmatter/toc.html | |
Vancouver | (Online) Citing Medicine (2nd ed.) (2007) National Library of Medicine https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7256/ |
|
MLA 8th | (Print) MLA Handbook (8th edition.). (2016). The Modern Language Association of America. | https://style.mla.org/ |
IEEE | (Online) IEEE Reference Guide (2018). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) https://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/IEEE-Reference-Guide.pdf |
Referencing is an essential part of academic writing. Its an ethical practice that fulfils the standards of academic conduct that members of a research or scholarly community are expected to uphold. Its purpose is to acknowledge the original source of ideas and work that is not the author's own, to point the reader to the original documents so that they can determine independently whether the attributed sources support the author’s argument as written, and to help identify the author's own ideas and arguments from that of their sources.
Referencing generally has two key elements;
The manner in which you are required to write the in-text citation and the reference list is determined by the reference system and citation style.
There are two common systems for referencing;
These involve the use of sequential numbers as in-text markers that refer to either footnotes or endnotes.
Common note systems include Chicago 17th A and Vancouver.
Also known as Author-date or Harvard referencing, parenthetical referencing involves the use of a partial reference contained within parenthesis as in-text markers (such as the author and date). The complete reference is then included in a list on the last page of the document.
Common parenthetical systems include APA, Harvard, and MLA.
A reference entry generally has four main elements each of which answers a key question about a work which helps to uniquely identify it.
Using these elements together allows us to build a reference even when there is no specific example for it in a style manual.
Tip 1 - The best way to familiarise yourself with a citation style is to study the published style manual. Referencing management software such as EndNote helps to keep track of the sources you use, but if you are using it to generate references you need to check that the reference is consistent with the published style manuals and that the information about the source is accurate. We recommend you build your confidence with understanding a style before you try to use software like EndNote.
Tip 2 - Library Search can provide you with a range of formatted references in different citation styles for all its items. Look for the quotation marks in the tools to the right of an item in your search results and select your preferred style. This can save you time or help with the application of a particular style, but remember that these references are auto-generated so you should always check that reference is consistent with the published style manuals and that the information about the source is accurate.
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