When you’ve decided something could be useful, make sure you keep track of all the details so you can reference it properly.
For more advice on referencing, consult the University referencing guide, or see the videos and links below.
Referencing is a key academic skill, and essential to avoid accidental plagiarism and other academic integrity issues.
While you are reading and researching your dissertation, you should keep note of everything you may want to refer to later. You might find it helpful to use a note-taking grid like the one below.
The video below will give you an overview of what referencing is and why it is important.
There are many different referencing styles available. At the University of Huddersfield, the official style we use is APA 7th.
A small number of courses may use different styles, in which case your lecturers will tell you what style to use, and provide guidance on this. If you have not heard differently, you need to use APA 7th style.
If you are a postgraduate researcher, you can choose to use any referencing style you wish. You should agree this with your supervisor.
Please use the links below, and the video, to find out more about APA 7th referencing.
You can use software to help you store your references and create automatic citations and references. The University of Huddersfield provides a few different tools.
Our interactive reference builders allow you to type in the key details and a APA 7th reference will be created with the correct formatting. There a reference builders for all the main resource types. You can then cut and paste the reference into your assignment.
We have more sophisticated tools that help you store, manage and create citations and references for your assignment. Check out our guide to reference management software for an overview.
RefWorks is the tool we subscribe to for taught course students as it is cloud based (you can access it 24 hours a day from any device) and it works well with Summon, making it a straightforward choice for undergraduates and taught postgraduate students.
Mendeley is a free cloud based tool, which has a built in browser plug in so you can extract information from websites, online reports as well as books and journals.
If you have further questions about using reference management software, email library@hud.ac.uk or book an online appointment.
