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Referencing: Why do we reference?

This guide provides links to our various referencing style guides, outlines why we reference, and also provides information on copyright and reference management software.

Why reference?

There are a number of reasons why you need to reference your work:

  • To show that relevant sources have been investigated
  • To enable the person reading our work to trace the original sources we have used
  • To provide documentary support for an argument
  • To give differing points of view of an argument
  • To indicate that we have not used someone else's ideas and claimed them as our own

To avoid plagiarism, make sure to reference any work you quote, paraphrase, summarise, or copy.