You’re at the end of your essay and it’s time to check your referencing. You might be thinking to yourself, should I use Harvard, APA or Chicago referencing style? What actually needs to be referenced? What does et al mean and when do I use it? Where does the comma go?

Referencing does not have to be a daunting task and in this module we discuss some ways to help you become more confident in your referencing capabilities.

Check with your institution
To start off, it’s useful to check with your institution/department about what referencing style they prefer to use. Many humanities departments provide useful guides for referencing, so you may be surprised to find out what resources are available to you at your institution.

Some useful links
Below are some links which outline the different referencing styles and how to use them. The most commonly used style of referencing is Harvard, followed by the APA style of referencing which is often used in the social sciences.

APA (American Psychological Association)
Harvard
Chicago
MLA (Modern Language Association)

What needs to be referenced and why it’s important to reference
There is a basic rule in academia that any information that has not come from your own thoughts and ideas needs to be referenced. This is of vital importance as I’m sure we can all agree that being acknowledged for your work is meaningful and, more importantly, it’s the ethical thing to do. The reason we include references and citations is so that those who read our work can know where to find that information. In this way we give those authors their due credit and we get to be a part of sharing knowledge.

The following should always be referenced. Examples of how to do this in-text are also provided – and here we are using APA referencing style.

Direct quotes. These are especially useful in cases where you feel the author(s) have expressed themselves really well. However, be careful to not use too many of these in your essay. Remember to always include a page number when using direct quotes. For example, “A positive transfer of phonological and reading skills across languages was found, but also script-specific factors were seen to be important” (Lekgoko & Winskel, 2008, p. 69). You may also choose to only quote parts of the sentence, for example, Lekogoko & Winksel (2008, p. 69) state that phonological and reading skills were positively transferred but that “script- specific” factors were also found to be significant. Even if you only quote one word from a statement, it is still important to provide the page number.

When you discuss, summarise, or paraphrase the ideas of an author(s). This means that any information that you have read and then have later discussed, summarised or paraphrased in your essay needs to be referenced. This is done in text by including the author(s) surname and the year of publication at the end of the sentence or within the sentence. For example: there is insufficient research on phonological awareness in the African languages (Pretorius & Mampuru, 2007) or according to Pretorius & Mampuru (2007), there is insufficient research on phonological awareness in the African languages. (Notice you only use the name and date. The rest of the details can be found in your reference list at the end.)

Lastly, any images, statistics, tables or graphs taken from any source need to be referenced.

There are some instances where referencing is not required. For example, common knowledge statements (e.g. South Africa has eleven official languages) and findings from your own field research do not need to be referenced.

Some tips for referencing based on common mistakes
Below is a list of important things to remember when referencing based on common mistakes (Betts, n.d.). This may differ to some degree depending on the style of referencing you use.

1. Always make sure that you include references for your in-text citation
This one seems quite obvious but it can be an easy mistake to make – you put your reference in your essay and then forget it when compiling your reference list. It is a useful practice to always go back and make sure that your in-text citations and reference list line up as they are a package deal.

2. Make sure your reference list is in alphabetical order
Whether you call it your reference list, works cited or bibliography, it’s important that this list is in alphabetical order using the first word in the reference. This is true for all referencing styles. For example, for APA and Harvard the first word is the author(s) surname and thus the authors surnames need to be in alphabetical order.

3. Always cite paraphrased information
We’ve already mentioned the importance of this but it’s worth repeating. If you do this incorrectly or forget to do so, it is considered plagiarism.

4. Reference multiple authors correctly
If you are referencing more than two authors in text you should use et al (e.g., James et al., 2000).

5. Try not to use outdated or bad sources
It’s important to always try to include relevant and accurate sources in your essay. This is not to say that sources from many years ago should not be used at all but that it’s important to try and keep the information you include in your essay current and relevant. In terms of bad sources, Wikipedia is often said to be an example of a “bad” source for an academic essay. (Of course Wikipedia can be helpful for your own understanding, but it is not an academic text that has been peer reviewed and checked.) Try to ensure that the information you use in your essay is from credible sources e.g. journal articles, books, published and unpublished dissertations etc. Google scholar is often a good a start.

6. Try not to reference unnecessarily
While it is important to not under-reference, it’s also important to not over-reference. For example, if you are discussing the ideas from a source in more than one sentence, you do not have to reference that source at the end of each sentence. You simply need to make it clear that your discussion is based on the ideas from that one source rather than cluttering up the entire paragraph. For example, Lekogoko & Winskel (2008) study showed that there was a positive transfer of phonological and reading skills across Setswana and English. In addition, they found that script-specific factors were also significant for reading.

7. Follow the correct punctuation when referencing

This is quite an important one. Whichever referencing style you use, always make sure that you are punctuating your references correctly both in-text and in your reference list. Keep consistent!

Helpful websites for referencing
Here is a list of websites that generate reference lists for you to assist you with your referencing.

Cite This For Me: Harvard, APA, MLA Reference Generator:
APA Citation Generator
RefWorks (only accessible through subscription but some institutions have may subscription. Check with your institution)

Reference list
Betts, J. (n.d.). 10 Common Citation Mistakes (and How to Ensure You Avoid Them). Bibliography.com. https://www.bibliography.com/citations/10-common-citation-mistakes-and-how-to-ensure-you-avoid-them/

Lekgoko, O., & Winskel, H. (2008). Learning to read Setswana and English: Cross-language transference of letter knowledge, phonological awareness and word reading skills. Perspectives in Education, 26(4), 57-73. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC87497

Pretorius, E.J & Mampuru, D.M. (2007). Playing football without a ball: Language reading and academic performance in a high-poverty school. Journal of Research in Reading, 30(1), 38-58. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9817.2006.00333.x

This chapter was written by Mikaela Ann Daries.