Referencing

Effective and appropriate referencing is very important at university. At uni, there is a great deal of emphasis put on each person developing and presenting their own opinions and ideas. As an individual, it is important to show which ideas are yours, and which come from academic sources you have read. Learning how to integrate sources correctly in your writing is a skill assessed in most assignments. The whole point of referencing is to clearly display which sources you have gathered your ideas from and which are your own. If you do not use references correctly you may be plagiarising and will therefore be penalised, so be very careful!

Plagiarism can include:

• Using any information from a source (such as a book, journal or internet site) without referencing it

• Using an author’s exact words without using quotation marks and referencing the page

• Writing an author’s ideas in your own words but without referencing them.

Penalties of plagiarism can include loss of credit for a subject, to suspension or termination of enrolment.

Knowing how to use and acknowledge sources in your writing takes a bit of practice, but don't worry, after putting some time and effort into learning it, it'll become easier. Find out what referencing system you need for your assignments – for example, Harvard, APA or MLA, and use an official university's guide/template to get familiar with it.

When you read academic articles, pay attention to how different academic sources use and different types of language and as you may be taking ideas from different sources, it is important to integrate all your ideas into one uniform language in your piece of writing. If it feels overwhelming or you're still unsure, you can always attend an Academic Skills Unit workshop or consult one of Macquarie's advisors or your particular tutor/unit convener to help improve your skills in this area - or, even ask one of your friends to help you! Everyone has or has been in the same boat and it can be confusing, so don't be afraid to ask around.


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