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Referencing Guides

What is referencing?

When you submit written assignments as part of your studies, your lecturer needs to see how your research has helped you to form your knowledge and understanding. To back up arguments you make in your writing, you need to demonstrate the depth of your reading and that your sources of information are professional and reliable.

However, there are important ethical and legal issues to consider. If you refer to someone else's work without acknowledging the original author, you are claiming it as your own. You are in fact 'stealing' the creator's moral rights, and this is called plagiarism. At TAFE SA, plagiarism would be dealt with under the TAFE SA Policy on Plagiarism and Cheating.

Referencing, or citing, acknowledges the sources of information you have used, allowing you to avoid these issues. The information on this page shows you how to reference using the Harvard style: on the other tabs you can find information about other styles of referencing - check with your lecturer which style they want you to use.

Academic integrity

Referencing is an important part of academic integrity, which really just means working honestly and ethically, ensuring your work is the result of your own efforts, and giving acknowlegement when you draw upon the work of others.

This Academic Integrity course in Learn will help you meet your academic integrity requirements as a student at TAFE SA.

For quick reference ...

These short printable study guides provide the essential information, with lots of useful examples:

 

For more in-depth help ... try:

My Information Skills logo

 

My Information Skills

This set of online tutorials, designed to help you build your study skills, contains a full section called How do I reference my information?, giving you a more in-depth run-through of the correct procedures for referencing different types of sources.

You can work through it step by step, or simply go directly to the specific topic you need to learn about.

 

Learn course

This free and self-paced short course on referencing
will explain why and when you need to reference. It has a special section dedicated to the Harvard referencing style.

This is a self-enrolment course, which means that it's accessible to all students. Just click on the above link to access.

(You may find this incorporated into your coursework - ask  your lecturer)

 

Video demonstrations

These short videos will take you step-by-step through some key aspects of Harvard Referencing:

1. Introduction

2. In-Text Citations

3. Reference Lists

4. Referencing a Book

5. Referencing an Article

6. Referencing Audiovisual Material

7. Referencing a Website