Most assignments require you to list the resources you have used to gather information. Listing resources correctly is called referencing, citing (citation) or compiling a bibliography. The most common style used at Box Hill Institute is the Harvard Referencing Style. However, it is best to ask your teacher or teaching centre which style they prefer.
Referencing usually involves two elements: something in the main text indicating (citing) where a quote or idea has come from, and a list of all resources used at the end of the assignment.
Assignments will often require you to use a combination of books, videos, DVDs, websites, magazines or periodicals, electronic articles (from databases), newspapers and other resources. Every item used, regardless of format, must be acknowledged.
Failing to reference the resources you have used to complete an assignment can get you into trouble with your teacher, your teaching centre and the law. Claiming the work of others as your own (by quoting from books, websites or other sources without acknowledging or citing them through a reference list) is a breach of copyright law called plagiarism. Referencing correctly is a way of showing your teacher what is your work and what is supporting material drawn from another source.
List items alphabetically, with a space between each item.
In general, the type of information, and the order that it is presented in is as follows: author - date- title of work - publishing details. However, the exact format depends on the type of resource. The boxes below explain the format for some of the most common resource types.
Single Author
Surname, Initials. Year, Title in italics, Edition (if not the first), Publisher’s name, Place of publication.
Example:
Hillman, R. 2003, Aussie rules football, Binary Publishing, Carlton, Vic.
Two authors
Surname, Initials & Surname, Initials. Year, Title in italics, Edition (if not the first), Publisher’s name, Place of publication.
Example:
West, A. W. & Murphy, F. T. 2007, G'day boss!: Australian culture and the workplace, Tribus Lingua, Abbotsford, Vic.
Author/organisation’s name, Year, Page title in italics, Retrieved: date accessed it, from: specific website address (best to copy and paste to ensure accuracy.)
Example:
Melbourne Cricket Ground, 2009, The MCG, Retrieved: August 11, 2009 from http://www.mcg.org.au/History/MCG.aspx
If there’s no date?
Put [n.d.] where you would usually put the year. (This applies to all forms of resource where a date cannot be found.)
How to refer to something while you’re writing
Work the author’s surname or organisation’s name, the year of publication and the page number into the paragraph you are writing. The purpose is to give basic details so your reader can get more information from the list at the end.
Example 1: It has been proven that mice have four legs (Jones, 1999, p12)
Example 2: Jones (1999, p12) has proven that mice have four legs.
Example 3: In his 1999 text, Jones states that mice have four legs (p12.)
Note that page numbers are only necessary for in text citations when direct quotes or precise information are used.