Referencing and using EndNote referencing software
In academic writing, when you refer to an idea or information created by someone else, you should always include a reference to the publication in which it appears. Normal practice is to include a citation within your text and then include a list of references at the end.
Why reference?
- To give academic credibility to your work: to show that you have consulted relevant sources and that you are familiar with the relevant research.
- To give due credit to the creators of ideas and information.
- To avoid being accused of plagiarism: representing someone else’s ideas as if they were your own. You can lose marks or even face serious sanctions if you plagiarise. For more information, see the library’s guide to plagiarism.
- To enable your readers to consult the works you have referenced.
- To enable your tutors to see that you have used genuine sources.
What is included in a reference?
Anyone who wants to consult any of the publications you have referenced will need information about who wrote it and where it can be found. You should reference any source of information you use, including web pages, emails, personal correspondence as well as books, chapters and journal articles.
Referencing styles
- Use a standard referencing style to enable your readers to find the relevant information easily.
- The styles that are most commonly used in UK universities are Harvard (Author-Date) and Vancouver (numbered list). Arts students may be recommended to use the MRHA (Modern Humanities Research Association) Style. Law students may be asked to use Oscola (Oxford University Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities). There are other styles in use as well, so do check with your tutors as to which style they want you to use. Most academic journals prefer you to use their own style: you can normally find out what they require on their web pages.
- It is important to be consistent: do not mix up styles.
- Referencing styles determine how your citation appears in the text and how you set out your list of references at the end of your work.
How to reference
- The Medical Library's Quick Guide on How to cite references (PDF, 332 KB) is a good starting point for most kinds of referencing.
- The Faculty of Arts has a detailed guide to referencing using MHRA and Harvard styles.
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Detailed guidance on how to reference is available in these books, available from the Library:
- Neville, C. 2010. The complete guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism 2nd ed. Maidenhead: Open University Press
- Pears, R. and Shields, G. 2010. Cite them right : the essential referencing guide 8th ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
- Williams, K. 2009. Referencing & understanding plagiarism Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Links
- Referencing@Portsmouth: an interactive guide to referencing - from Portsmouth University
- Referencing - Leeds University’s concise overview of referencing
- Referencing - the University of Sussex' guide covers Harvard, MLA, Numeric and Vancouver referencing styles
- APA style - style guidance from the American Psychological Association
EndNote and EndNote Basic (formerly EndNote Web)
The University provides access to these two versions of the EndNote referencing software. EndNote Online / Basic (formerly EndNote Web) is the recommended version for all undergraduate and taught postgraduate students . These enable you to keep track of the references you find as you research and to organise them so that you can find them again easily. They can also insert correctly formatted citations into your text and generate a list of references at the end of your work.
Note: some of the documents on this page are in PDF format. In order to view a PDF you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader 