00:00: In this video, we will look at what (and when) you need to (or not to) reference. Contrary to the belief in some quarters that printed books are the only sources that require acknowledgement, all sources from which you have taken any information require a reference.
00:35: This includes: the source of inspiration, ideas, theories or arguments; direct quotes, including definitions; paraphrasing; when you have used your own words to summarise points from other authors’ work; facts and figures; statistical information or examples; information from websites or printed materials such as books, journals, brochures, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets; and multimedia sources – videos, podcasts, radio programmes, amongst others.
01:14: Additionally, you need to reference any chart, picture, diagram and other visual illustrations any time you generate or reprint them. Nonetheless, you do not need to reference when you are writing your own thoughts, experiences, observations, experiment results, presenting common knowledge or providing conclusions in your work.
01:43: These are some of the examples of reference lists. Below also is the list of necessary items to be included in a full book reference. You have the name of authors, family names and first name initials. You have name of journal articles, chapter and conference number or paper; name of journal, book, conference, etc. You have date of publication; volume number (for journals); editor of book (if applicable); publisher (for books); place of publication (for books); page numbers (of articles or book chapter).
02:35: I will encourage you to look at the list again and try to master some of the key components mentioned. Now, let’s focus on referencing style. As referencing is a critical component of academic writing, students need to understand the general principles and guidelines to follow when referencing sources and avoid being caught on the web of plagiarism as discussed earlier.
03:08: So, this implies that it is not enough to know when to cite a reference but also necessary to know how to cite it correctly. There exists no universal referencing system as different academic fields use different referencing styles. If you are unsure of which style to use, kindly talk to your instructor or project supervisor.
03:36: They will be able to give you further advice and support. Some notable examples of referencing style include the American Psychological Association – the APA style – which is chiefly used in psychology, health, and social sciences. We have the Harvard style, mainly used in art and design, engineering, and social science.
04:05: We have the MLA, which stands for Modern Language Association style, used in humanities subjects, and we have OSCOLA, used in law. Format and examples for the APA and Harvard referencing styles are given below. So, it is essential to know that for any reference to be complete, it is mandatory to provide both the in-text citation and full reference list compilation in alphabetical order at the end of your work.
04:36: Referencing constitutes an assessed part of academic writing that usually accounts for 5-10% of total marks depending on the institution or course and thus should be taken seriously in any academic writing. Then, let’s look at the APA referencing style. So, this referencing style or system was established by the American Psychological Association and employed by professionals in psychology and many other sciences.
05:12: It is also one of the most common referencing styles used for publications, papers, essays, and books. Below is an overview of the formats and examples of this style for different academic sources. So, from this table, you are going to see the referencing style, the APA style, for book, book section or chapters, journal articles or papers, newspapers, magazine articles, websites, and conference proceedings.
05:46: So, please take time to look at the format and try to follow them. For formats and examples of APA reference list entries for all the sources, I will encourage you to visit the hyperlink APA Referencing styles – a Practical Guide provided for more information.
06:05: Now, let’s look at the Harvard referencing style. This particular style is developed by the Harvard University and is used in several disciplines, including in economics, environment, health, sciences, management, politics, sociology, archaeology, biochemistry, biology, and social policy, amongst others.
06:33: This section presents the format and examples of Harvard reference list entries for various academic sources. I want you to pay attention to the instruction and details given on your project or course materials, as some instructions and institutions, including departments, have their own variation of referencing style.
07:01: We have books – as you can see, the print and electronic book. You see this style for it has been displayed. You also have that of articles. You will see the key component, the format of arrangement, and also how to properly reference them under Harvard referencing. You see that of websites as well. So, these are critical components that I want you to take your time and please take note of them.
07:33: So, please note that if no author is found on the web page, you can use the name of the organisation or institution that that website belongs to. Also, if there is no date for the latest or last update, you can use n.d. Remember, your compiled reference list still needs to be organised alphabetically by author surname.
08:06: You can get more useful information to support your referencing and academic writing skills here in the list provided, in the link also provided. Now, let’s look at the difference between reference list and bibliography. At the end of any academic writing or thesis, students are expected to provide an alphabetical list of references that contains full details of the sources that they used in their work.
08:41: These references may take the form of either a reference list or a bibliography. Although. these two types appear at the end of your text and many times are used interchangeably, which sometimes gets students confused. This underlines the need to provide a clear distinction between them.
09:05: Can you guess the difference? A reference list comprises entries related to all in-text citations, whilst a bibliography covers all sources consulted, but you did not cite. In other words, a reference list provides full detail of all sources cited in the main body of the work, whereas a bibliography captures all the sources that have influenced your thinking but are neither paraphrased nor quoted in the body of the work.
09:42: It is important to only produce a bibliography if you have been instructed to. And here also is an example of a reference list arranged alphabetically to further enrich your understanding. So, thank you, and I will see you in the next unit.