Introduction
The referencing the source is not only compulsory in academic writing, but also highly important. The students need to validate the content they are writing in their assignment through referencing and properly citing the sources used. Different referencing styles are in prevalence in the universities operating in different countries. For example, universities operating in the United States use APA referencing, while those operating in the UK use Harvard referencing. The referencing under different styles is almost similar except few changes relating to formatting and structuring the reference. This paper addresses the peculiarities of referencing, which the students should keep in mind while referencing the sources in their assignments.
Figure-1: Different Referencing Styles
Sources and Referencing
There are various sources, which can be used by the students for the purpose of academic writing such as books, journals, news articles,essay writting and reliable websites (not Wikipedia and encyclopaedias). The unreliable sources cannot be used in the academic writing such as Wikipedia and encyclopaedia, thus the students should remember that these sources are not referenced in their assignment. Ideally, a list containing references, arranged in an alphabetical order, should be given at the end of the assignment on a separate page. The guidelines relating to the referencing of the different sources have been discussed in the sections given below:
Books
The referencing of the books is done by mentioning the name of the authors, year of publication, title of the book, and name of the publisher. These details are structured sequentially starting with the name of the author followed by the year of publication. After the year of publication, title of the book mentioned, which is generally written in italics, and then at last name of the publisher is mentioned. For example, “Gibson, R. 2016. Ratio analysis: a comparative study of the organization’s profitability, 6th edition. Wiley and Sons Publication.” This is a simple example exhibiting referencing of a book written by one author, few other important aspects relating to referencing are as below:
• If there are two authors, the name of the authors can be separated by putting “AND” between names of two authors. Further, in case of more than three authors, the name of authors can be separated by putting “comma (,)” and “AND” before the name of the last author.
• Regarding the year of publication, it should be kept in mind that the year of actual publication is given and not the year of reprint. There may be the year of a reprint mentioned in the book in case the book was reprinted.
Figure-2: Referencing of a Book
Journal
The referencing of a journal article is similar to the book except that few more details are added such as the name of the journal, volume number, issue number, and page numbers. Consider an example of referencing a journal, “Oblan, A. and Robert, S. 2016. The determinant of bank’s profitability: Empirical data evidence. Journal of financial management, (4) (1): 145-210”. Here “(4) and (1)” are respectively the volume and issue number of the journal.
Online Source
The referencing of the online source is different from that of the books and journals. The crucial aspect of online source referencing is the web link and the date on which the source was assessed. Further, it should also be kept in mind that the online may be such that does not have any author. In such cases, the referencing should be done by mentioning the name of the source, for example, in case of the company’s annual report, “Annual Report of ABC Inc,” can be mentioned in place of the author’s name.
Figure-3: Online Source Referencing
Few other Important Points
• In case same citation is used at various places in the document, the writer can use the word “Ibid” in place of citation. This word refers to the citation done in the earlier Para.
• In case of more than three authors, the writer can use the words “et al.,” after the name of the first author instead of using the names of all the authors. This applies in the cases of in text citation only, however, in preparing bibliography; the names of all the authors should be mentioned.
• The list of references should be arranged in the alphabetical order and indent should be given to each reference in the list. as suggested by assignment help experts
Summary
Referencing and citations of the sources can be difficult and confusing in academic writing. This paper addresses the crucial aspects that pertain to the referencing of the various sources such as book, journals, and online sources. The paper helps in learning the referencing in an easy way by exhibiting the example of each source. Further, the paper also explains other crucial aspects relating the structuring and formatting the references, which may be highly useful in the academic writers. Through this paper, it is endeavoured that all the academic writers get the complete understanding of the referencing and learn the preparation of bibliographies.
The referencing the source is not only compulsory in academic writing, but also highly important. The students need to validate the content they are writing in their assignment through referencing and properly citing the sources used. Different referencing styles are in prevalence in the universities operating in different countries. For example, universities operating in the United States use APA referencing, while those operating in the UK use Harvard referencing. The referencing under different styles is almost similar except few changes relating to formatting and structuring the reference. This paper addresses the peculiarities of referencing, which the students should keep in mind while referencing the sources in their assignments.
Figure-1: Different Referencing Styles
Sources and Referencing
There are various sources, which can be used by the students for the purpose of academic writing such as books, journals, news articles,essay writting and reliable websites (not Wikipedia and encyclopaedias). The unreliable sources cannot be used in the academic writing such as Wikipedia and encyclopaedia, thus the students should remember that these sources are not referenced in their assignment. Ideally, a list containing references, arranged in an alphabetical order, should be given at the end of the assignment on a separate page. The guidelines relating to the referencing of the different sources have been discussed in the sections given below:
Books
The referencing of the books is done by mentioning the name of the authors, year of publication, title of the book, and name of the publisher. These details are structured sequentially starting with the name of the author followed by the year of publication. After the year of publication, title of the book mentioned, which is generally written in italics, and then at last name of the publisher is mentioned. For example, “Gibson, R. 2016. Ratio analysis: a comparative study of the organization’s profitability, 6th edition. Wiley and Sons Publication.” This is a simple example exhibiting referencing of a book written by one author, few other important aspects relating to referencing are as below:
• If there are two authors, the name of the authors can be separated by putting “AND” between names of two authors. Further, in case of more than three authors, the name of authors can be separated by putting “comma (,)” and “AND” before the name of the last author.
• Regarding the year of publication, it should be kept in mind that the year of actual publication is given and not the year of reprint. There may be the year of a reprint mentioned in the book in case the book was reprinted.
Figure-2: Referencing of a Book
Journal
The referencing of a journal article is similar to the book except that few more details are added such as the name of the journal, volume number, issue number, and page numbers. Consider an example of referencing a journal, “Oblan, A. and Robert, S. 2016. The determinant of bank’s profitability: Empirical data evidence. Journal of financial management, (4) (1): 145-210”. Here “(4) and (1)” are respectively the volume and issue number of the journal.
Online Source
The referencing of the online source is different from that of the books and journals. The crucial aspect of online source referencing is the web link and the date on which the source was assessed. Further, it should also be kept in mind that the online may be such that does not have any author. In such cases, the referencing should be done by mentioning the name of the source, for example, in case of the company’s annual report, “Annual Report of ABC Inc,” can be mentioned in place of the author’s name.
Figure-3: Online Source Referencing
Few other Important Points
• In case same citation is used at various places in the document, the writer can use the word “Ibid” in place of citation. This word refers to the citation done in the earlier Para.
• In case of more than three authors, the writer can use the words “et al.,” after the name of the first author instead of using the names of all the authors. This applies in the cases of in text citation only, however, in preparing bibliography; the names of all the authors should be mentioned.
• The list of references should be arranged in the alphabetical order and indent should be given to each reference in the list. as suggested by assignment help experts
Summary
Referencing and citations of the sources can be difficult and confusing in academic writing. This paper addresses the crucial aspects that pertain to the referencing of the various sources such as book, journals, and online sources. The paper helps in learning the referencing in an easy way by exhibiting the example of each source. Further, the paper also explains other crucial aspects relating the structuring and formatting the references, which may be highly useful in the academic writers. Through this paper, it is endeavoured that all the academic writers get the complete understanding of the referencing and learn the preparation of bibliographies.
