Reference your sources correctly using Cite Them Right

Correctly referring to the sources you’ve used for your assignments is an essential part of studying at university. When your lecturers talk about referencing they mean the acknowledgement of the source in the text as a citation and in full as part of the reference list. Citing your sources correctly will help you avoid plagiarism and allow your tutors to locate the sources you’ve used. It also demonstrates how you have used your research to build your assignment. Cite Them Right Online is your essential resource for understanding referencing.

There are many different referencing standards which vary in how, and in which order, they present the essential information such as the author, publication date and title. For example, law students will often use OSCOLA while psychology uses APA. It is always best to check your module guides to see if your lecturer prefers a particular referencing system.

Subjects in the Faculty of Arts and Creative Cultures tend to use the Harvard referencing format, which is also sometimes called the author-date system.

As a member of the University of Sunderland you have access to Cite Them Right Online which is the resource we would recommend to help you get started. It is the essential guide to Harvard referencing, although it does also include guidance about other common referencing formats. Cite Them Right is also available as a book that can be borrowed from the library. Watch the video below to find out more about Cite Them Right Online.

If you are using a tool such as RefMe (it’s a great app if you’ve never tried it) be careful to ensure that the references are created in a Harvard format and be prepared to tidy up your references in your final draft.

https://youtu.be/VabETaCXXLY?list=PLprU_yQ42pj-aP6Ex3upnFldp3S8lMLdI