Introduction to referencing

www.scu.edu.au/learning-zone
Hello, and welcome to an introductory video on referencing for academic writing. So, what exactly is referencing? Referencing is a method used to acknowledge when ideas, information, data, words, images or examples from the work of others are included in your academic writing. Referencing is one of the most important ways that students practice academic integrity when writing at university. Academic integrity is about applying the belief that honesty is at the core of exemplary scholarship. So why is it important to reference? Firstly, practicing academic integrity is all about acknowledging when we use the work of others and only taking credit for work we create ourselves. This is important to allow others to find sources of evidence and build upon the academic knowledge you have produced. Thirdly, it's about acknowledging and showing respect. It's also about validity and credibility so good referencing strengthens your writing. Finally, often at university we are expected to use certain sources for particular pieces of assessment. By referencing correctly, you prove that you have used these sources and also show your marker the scope of your research. So, what is involved in referencing? Well, whenever you synthesize or put together information from a number of sources and incorporate it with your own ideas you must acknowledge where all of these ideas came from. The most common writing types that require referencing are paraphrasing or stating an idea in your own words, summarizing, and direct quotations using the exact words of another person. Secondly, it's very important that you use the appropriate style or format to acknowledge the work of others. This is achieved in two different ways within academic writing: in in-text citations which are found within the paragraphs, and in the reference list. So, what does referencing look like? Here's a couple of examples of in-text referencing where the author of the original ideas is acknowledged within the paragraphs. It's optional whether you use this information prominent style where the author's name is included in the citation brackets or this author prominent style where the author's name is incorporated into the sentence in a grammatically correct manner. It's best to use a combination of both of these styles in your in-text citations.
So, when is it necessary to use citations in your academic writing? You must reference every time you use evidence to support your arguments and claims that have come from the literature you have sourced. This includes tables, statistics and images, definitions of terms or concepts, quoting, summarizing, and paraphrasing. So, what's involved in the process? There are roughly five steps in producing accurate referencing. First, you need to identify the style required for your school or unit. Then, identify the type of source that you are using. Third, identify and record the required elements from the source. You'll find these required elements in your guides for each style and then it's about entering the required referencing into your assignment both in text and in the reference list and finishing with some editing and double checking. This means doing a cross check to ensure that all of your sources cited in your writing are in the references and vice versa all of the sources included in your references have been cited in text. I'll show you quickly where to find the SCU referencing guides. If you go to the library webpage, scroll to the bottom to find the quick links, you can access the referencing guides through these two links. Further resources are available on the Student Learning Zone web page. To access the Student Learning Zone, click on current students then Student Learning Zone and it will bring you to this home page. From here you can access how-to videos on APA and Harvard referencing. You can access the Quick Guides on summarizing and paraphrasing using quotations and other aspects of academic integrity and avoiding plagiarism. There are also workshops available throughout the session and recordings of previous workshops on avoiding plagiarism and academic writing. Through the student appointments link you can use the Ask a Question function to ask a learning coach about referencing or submit your assignment for review. You can also book an appointment to speak directly with a learning coach who can provide advice on referencing and academic integrity.
You can also speak directly with a librarian either on campus or through the library chat function. If you click on this button from the library webpage, this chat window opens up. From here you can ask the librarian for help.
Thank you for watching. All the best with your studies and again please contact the Student Learning Zone or the library if you require any further information on referencing.