Referencing

Referencing is how you give credit to others whose ideas, text, data, images or other content have been used in your own writing. You must reference their contribution every time you use someone else's work if you want to avoid plagiarism. If your institution uses Turnitin or a similar tool for collecting assignments online (as discussed in Unit 2), your work will be checked every time it is submitted for plagiarism, which is a serious offense and comes with severe penalties. Please refer to your handbook for more information about how your institution handles this.

Referencing Tools

Fortunately, there are a number of useful digital tools that make referencing easy. 

EndNote

EndNote is a reference management tool that works with Microsoft Word to automatically format in-text citations and end-of-paper reference lists with your chosen style. It can also be used as a personal database to gather and store bibliographic records from different sources. You can also use EndNote to conduct searches via direct connection to a journal or research database (PubMed, BIOSIS, etc.), which allows you to save and organise search results within your personal library. 

Please check with your library and/or IT support to see if you have free access to EndNote through your insitution. If you want to learn more:

Mendeley

Mendeley is a reference management tool that is free to download for personal use and available for Windows, Mac, iOS or Android. There is a web and desktop version, and an MS Word plugin that allows you to import references directly from your Mendeley library to a Word document and also a web plugin, that allows you to save a reference from a web page to your Mendeley library. 

You can also use Mendeley to create and maintain a personal profile, to share subject-based libraries with other researchers, and browse the libraries that other students and academics have shared. In this way, Mendeley serves almost as a social network for researchers interested in sharing their libraries, finding popular or oft-cited papers, and browsing subject-based bibliographies.

     

Others

If you have time, explore other options:

  • Zotero: free, online reference manager  
  • Zotero Bib: free service that helps you quickly create a bibliography in any citation style
  • Microsoft Word referencing tools: can help you to put citations into your text and create a bibliography in a variety of referencing styles. This Guide to Using the referencing tools in Word 2016 from the Birkbeck Library shows how (pdf).

Choosing a reference management tool

You may find it helpful to test different reference managers to see which one you prefer working with. Consider the following when choosing your reference manager:   

  • Accessibility - desktop, web-based or web browser extension?
  • Is the citation / reference style you need to use available?
  • Is the software compatible with your word processing program?
  • If you want to share your references with colleagues, what do they use?

Your Library

You will be spending a lot of time with your library, both online and by visiting in person, and you will find the librarians and other staff members very knowledgeable and eager to help you. In addition, your library offers guidance for researching, accessing resources and referencing what you read in your written assignments. 

[link to library support]   

Library stacks

"Use citation software and learn how to collect and collate references as you go ... it's a pain to do at the end!" Jamie, 2nd-year student

Last modified: Wednesday, 7 August 2019, 8:20 AM