Citations, references and bibliography

The essence of research is that it builds on the work of others. You need to be able to indicate which ideas your work builds on, and which it refutes or disagrees with. The following outlines the nature and importance of referencing and offers some alternative reference styles.

Why reference?

Bibliographic references and citations are crucial to academic work because they are the means by which authors acknowledge and identify the sources of their ideas and information. It is important that you include references in your own work because:

• They show the sources of information gathered and direct the reader to further information

• They acknowledge someone else's work; this is important to avoid charges of plagiarism and so you can demonstrate the breadth of your reading and the origins of your ideas

• They provide support for your arguments

• They show the range of arguments on a particular topic

• They position your work in the literature (see 'literature review' on home page)

To enable your reader to identify the work on which you have drawn in producing your dissertation you need to:

• Refer to the work in your text (the citation)

• Provide full details of the work you have used (the reference)

• Link the citation and the reference together (the reference list or bibliography)

Academics often seem intent on confusing their students! Some writers call the full list of references at the back of a dissertation the 'reference list' and others call it the 'bibliography'. However, there are some authorities that allow for a dissertation to contain a list of references and a bibliography. In this case, bibliography refers to items used as part of reading, but not directly cited. Personally, we do not advocate the use of bibliography used in this way; if a work is relevant, cite it and reference it, or do not include it at all. However, always obey the rules of your course, and if in doubt discuss it with your tutor.

There are some generally accepted and applied rules for referencing outlined on the page on how to cite and reference. The use of standard referencing methods makes life simpler, and provides an easy route for the reader to evaluate the quality of the evidence.