Referencing is a standardised method of acknowledging sources of information and ideas that you have used in your assignment in a way that uniquely identifies their source. Direct quotations, facts and figures, as well as ideas and theories, from both published and unpublished works, must be referenced.
Why Reference?
Educational Innovation and Change
This brief guide is primarily for students doing assignments at Curtin University, not for those publishing using the APA 6th style.
If you are publishing in the APA 6th style, please consult the APA publication manual:
American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
If you require extra help not available in this guide please try
? APA style guide to electronic references
? APA Style Blog
Guide contents
Overview:
? What is referencing?
? Why reference?
? Steps involved in referencing
? Elements of a reference
? Sample reference list
? Reference types for EndNote X7
Reference Examples:
? Books and eBooks
? Journals (Print and Online)
? World Wide Web
? Government Publications
? Other Sources
? Authors Citing Other Authors
It is important that you check the assignment guide of your Department or School as details may vary from the guidelines on this sheet. You may be penalised for not using the referencing style that is required by your School/Department.
Academic integrity and plagiarism
Plagiarism breaches academic integrity and is a serious accusation in academia. Make sure you
avoid plagiarism by referencing your sources.
Refer to the Curtin University student booklet Academic Integrity: Student Guidelines for Avoiding Plagiarism for definitions and University policies relating to academic integrity and plagiarism.
CURTIN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
APA 6th REFERENCING
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What is Referencing?
Referencing is a standardised method of acknowledging sources of information and ideas that you have used in your assignment in a way that uniquely identifies their source. Direct quotations, facts and figures, as well as ideas and theories, from both published and unpublished works, must be referenced.
Why Reference?
Referencing is necessary to avoid plagiarism, to verify quotations, and to enable readers to follow-up and read more fully the cited authors arguments.
Steps Involved in Referencing
1. Collecting Bibliographic Details
Note down the full bibliographic details of the source from which the information is taken, including the relevant page number(s). This information is the basis of a citation or reference.
In the case of a book, bibliographical details refers to: author/editor, year of publication, title, edition, volume number, place of publication and publisher as found on the front and back of the title page. (Not all of these details will necessarily be applicable).
In the case of a journal article the details required include: author of the article, year of publication, title of the article, title of the journal, volume and issue number of the journal, and page numbers.
For all electronic information, in addition to the above you should note the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) if one exists, and if one does not exist, the web address (URL) of the database you found the article in. For more details see the DOI Information Sheet.
2. In-Text Citations
A citation inserted at the appropriate place within the text of the document is called an in-text citation. This usually takes the form of the name of the author, followed by the year of publication.
Two acceptable forms of in-text citations are:
Miller and Collins (2009) use and when family names are outside parentheses (Miller & Collins, 2009) use & when family names are inside parentheses
If two or more authors are cited at the same point in the text then they are included in the same in-text citation, separated by a semicolon, e.g., (Brown, 1991; Smith, 2003).
Short quotes
For fewer that 40 words incorporate the quote into the text and use double quotation marks.
. (Brown & Brown, 2008, p.112).
Brown and Brown (2008) suggested
(p. 112), and this would provide
When paraphrasing, the APA 6th manual (p.171) encourages you to provide page or paragraph numbers to help the reader locate the information.
Use paragraph number for .html documents (e.g. British Empire 1922, 2009, para.4)
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Page Numbers
Use p. for a single page and pp. for double pages.
Long Quotes
If the quotation is 40 or more words use a freestanding block of text
? start on a new line
? indent the block about half an inch from the left
? use double spacing
? omit quotations marks
3. Reference List
A reference list includes books, journal articles etc that you have cited in the text of your essay whereas a bibliography is a list of sources consulted as well as cited.
? The reference should appear at the end of your work on a separate page
? The reference list is arranged alphabetically by author
? Where an item has no author it is cited and listed by its title
? The second and subsequent lines of each reference need a hanging indent
? Use double spacing between references
Example of a Reference List in the APA style
Reference Types to use with EndNote
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Elements of a Reference
A reference or citation consists of elements that allow the reader to trace the original book, article or website you have consulted and cited.
Underlined hyperlink in URL
This can be removed if required. APA has no rule regarding the inclusion of a hyperlink and they provide no guidance. This is at the discretion of the respective lecturers. For more information see the APA Style Blog FAQ
Book title
Mack, C. (2005). Looking at the Renaissance: Essays toward a conceptual appreciation. London, UK: Taylor & Francis.
Author
(Year)
Place of publication
Publisher
Book:
Pope, J., & Owen A. D. (2009). Emission trading schemes: Potential revenue effects, compliance costs and overall tax policy issues. Energy Policy, 37, 4595-4603. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2009.06.014
Journal article from a database:
DOI
Journal title
Volume number
Web Page:
Article page numbers
Steel, W. (2008). Hints for web authors. Retrieved from http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/
