The Lighthouse

• Make sure you know which referencing style you should be using. If your lecturer has not specified a style, then you may be able to choose. If you are allowed to choose, then APA style is a good choice, as there is a lot of help available regarding it on OWLL. It is also the most commonly used referencing style at Massey.
• You need to reference because you need to credit the originators of the ideas you are referring to, enable others to locate the source, and to avoid plagiarism.
• Unless your assignment instructions specify otherwise, you need to include a reference every time you refer to an idea/argument/theory/framework/fact/evidence/author/source. The only exception to this general rule is common knowledge.
• References are needed both in the text (where you refer to the source) and in the reference list at the end of the assignment.
• If you have trouble with formatting and you’ve got a lot of assignments, consider using the referencing software EndNote (which is free for Massey students). It can save you time as it does a lot of the formatting for you.

For further help:

• You can ask questions referencing in the Academic Q&A forum.

Also see:

•  http://owll.massey.ac.nz/main/referencing.php