It's very common for new students to be extremely concerned about referencing. Are you one of those students?

• Do you believe that your referencing skills are not up to scratch?
  
• Does the fear of committing plagiarism worry you?

Please rest assured that you're not alone and that your competence in referencing, as with other aspects of studying at university, will improve with commitment and practise.

Why is referencing important?

Before we look at the different referencing styles in vogue at the present time, it's crucial that you first understand why referencing is considered to be one of the cornerstones of academic writing.

• Referencing is about academic honesty

The most important reason why we reference is because it's honest to do so and because we'd be acting unethically if we didn't. Bottom line, many of the ideas, and much of the data and materials that you will use while you are studying belong to someone else. In other words, they are the product of someone else's hard work; they are their intellectual property. To use this material and not acknowledge their ownership is intellectual theft.

• Referencing is useful for the reader

Referencing informs the reader where you gained your information from. This enables them to then track down the source of that information for either the purpose of verification, or to pursue their own research.

• Referencing ensures your work is sound

Referencing also illustrates to your reader that you have researched your topic well and read widely. Therefore any conclusions or arguments that you may derive from your research are more likely to be sound and taken seriously.