Referencing is an essential part of academic writing and practice. It is how you acknowledge what sources have aided, influenced or guided your work. Whether you are quoting directly or paraphrasing, it is vital that you reference that source to ensure credit is given where credit is due. If you do not reference adequately, it affects the quality and integrity of your academic work and could make you vulnerable to questions of plagiarism.

That being said, referencing can initially be a bit of an ordeal to get to grips with! During my time as an Academic Writing Mentor in the Writing Space, a high proportion of requests for help centre around referencing issues. Granted, formatting footnotes and bibliographies can be tricky and pedantic, especially when different Schools use different referencing styles. So, if you are finding it difficult, you are not alone – especially if you’re in the early stages of your undergraduate degree, where much of this is a new phenomenon.

Understanding the Style

Firstly, it is important to clarify which referencing style is adopted by your School, or what kind is required for your assignment. You can find out your School’s referencing style here, or through your School’s Minerva Organisation page which should contain information about academic writing and assessment. The styles adopted by the University broadly range from MHRA, Leeds Harvard, Leeds Numeric, APA, OSCOLA and IEEE.

Formatting Difficulties

Firstly, ensure that the referencing guides you are using are up to date. For instance, MHRA have recently updated their guidance for their Fourth Edition in 2024. It is important to be using the most up to date guidance, to ensure that you are not penalised in assessment conditions. Make sure to consider the specific details of your referencing styles. Pay attention to where italics are used, where to place full stops and commas, if or where bold font is applied and how page numbers are listed. Furthermore, be mindful of the differences which appear between sources. Footnotes or bibliographical references can vary depending on whether you’re referencing a book, an edited book, a journal article or even digital media, and so forth. Fundamentally, make sure you’re alert to the details and try to get a feel for the style.

Referencing Tools and Applications

The use of referencing tools depends upon your School’s advice, personal choice or accessibility requirements. Personally, my own experience with referencing aids has often left me taking much longer to learn how to use the software, or correct any mistakes it has made, than if I had learnt how to reference manually in the first place. Relying on applications or software to help with your referencing can impact on your ability to learn an essential academic skill which you will consistently need throughout your degree. There are many benefits to doing it yourself. EndNote is the only reference management system that the University specifically endorses and has guidance for. Have a look at Skills@Library Referencing Tools for further information on this and other tools such as Mendeley, Zotero and BibTex. To be clear, students shouldn’t expect help with issues related to these reference managers, as they are outsourced tools.

Tips, Tricks and Advice

Though it can be tempting to leave referencing to the last minute, it always takes longer than anticipated. If you are still formatting your references in the final minutes before submission, you are potentially risking marks that are not worth losing. My main piece of advice is to start referencing early, during the reading and note taking phases. When making specific notes or taking quotes from a source which may be useful for your impending assignment, make note of the related page number, citation and bibliographical reference. That way, the references will be much easier to implement into your essay as they are ready to go. Alternatively, if you’re looking for a productive form of procrastination in the writing stage, why not have a crack at referencing some of your sources?

Don’t be afraid to ask for help!

If referencing is proving particularly tricky for you, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Your personal tutor should always be available for any queries regarding academic writing and might be able to signpost you to useful resources. Alternatively, pop into the Writing Space in Laidlaw Library during teaching weeks for help from one of our dedicated Academic Writing Mentors, who would be happy to work through any concerns or questions that you may have.

-Nina Mul (Academic Writing Mentor. BA English Literature (Int.), Level 4)