There are lots of referencing styles out there, but the good news is, all referencing systems follow the same basic principles.
Basic Principles
- You first mark in your work when you are quoting, paraphrasing or referring to someone else's work (this marker is known as in-text citation). Depending on the referencing style you are required to follow, this can be either:
- by using the author's name and year in brackets - known as an author-date style like Harvard, or
- by placing a small superscript number, linking to a numbered footnote or endnote -known as a footnote style such as MHRA, or IEEE
- This in-text citation points the reader to its corresponding full reference in a list of all the sources you have used at the end of your work - known as a reference list or bibliography. This list is in alphabetical order if following an author-year style, or in number order if following a footnote style. This is where you give the full details of each source you use following the referencing style guide.
It's important to stick to one referencing style in any piece of work and always follow the style and version your course and assignment brief recommends - always check your assignment brief!
