We often use the ideas and work of others to support our own thinkingand make a convincing argument. If the examples or ideas we use come from other people, it is important that we give them appropriate credit for their work. This is called referencing.
Using other people's ideas
In academics and professional settings, referencing means acknowledging others' work and ideas.
For academic tasks, you often need to research topics, and collect data, images, and other information to support your point. Whenever you use someone else's ideas, you must inform the reader where the ideas came from. Citations and reference list, by RMIT, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
Referencing has two parts: citations, and the reference list.
In the body of your work, any time you want to use a direct quote from someone else, talk about their ideas more generally, or incorporate a piece of their creative work into your own, you’ll include a citation. Citations offer your audience key pieces of information about the source of an idea, such as the author’s surname and the year of publication.
At the end of your work, you’ll include a reference list or bibliography. These provide the complete publication information for the sources you’ve cited. Every citation will refer to an entry in the reference list or bibliography.
Each professional discipline or area of study uses a specific set of referencing rules, called style guides. These style guides explain how to format citations and create a reference list. APA, Chicago, and RMIT Harvard are the names of some popular referencing styles. You can find the rules for these styles by visiting Easy Cite.
Why is referencing important?
Referencing strengthens your arguments
Using references demonstrates that you have explored existing research on your topic. It shows you are forming your own arguments based on the work of others in the field. This not only displays professionalism but also helps build trust with your audience.
Referencing enables others to understand how you came to your conclusions
References help others find the information you used to build your arguments. For example, if you use information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, someone can find this information by checking your reference list and visiting the source. This allows others to check your statements and see how you reached your conclusions.
Referencing shows you are acting with academic integrity
When you state where you found your information, you are showing respect for the work of others. This is a key aspect of academic integrity. It shows your audience what knowledge or work already existed, and what ideas are your own. All publications are the intellectual property of the authors, so taking someone’s ideas without acknowledgement and representing them as your own is a form of theft and fraud, known as plagiarism.
