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Independent College: Referencing & Citation Explained

Resources for planning and reflecting

Harvard referencing system

Welcome to our Referencing & Citation LIbrary Guide. At Independent College Dublin we use the HARVARD Referencing System and this guide will help you learn more about this referencing system, what it looks like, what resources are there to assist you, and why we reference in the first place!

Referencing is the process of acknowledging in detail all the various information sources (books, journal articles, images, data, webpages, etc.) that you have included in your academic writing.  A reference list is placed at the end of an assignment or paper allowing your readers to directly find and consult the sources you have used.

Key Glossary

Your in-text citations MUST match your reference list/reference list entries

An In-text Citation is when you credit the source/author for information you have used within the body of your writing. For example, (Keegan, 2022). In-text citations are also known as citations and should always be placed in brackets ( ), at the end of a sentence where you have:

  1. included the work of another person or institution in your assignment - i.e., images, tables, computer code, words) 
  2. Used "direct quotations" from an original source
  3. Paraphrased information from a source - express the thoughts/ideas of someone else  in your own words

A reference list gives the details of ALL the sources you have CITED in your assignment.

Independent College required students to produce a reference list. Each source you include on the list will have a complete entry so that the examiner/assessor can look up the information source/AUTHOR, (e.g., eBooks, books, online articles, journal articles, Moodle resources etc.).

Example Reference List Entry:   

Bailey, S. (2018). Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students. New York, Ny: Routledge.

Interactive Workshop

Adapted from Universtiy of Cardiff 

Referencing Presentation

Harvard Style Citation Guides

Zotero:
Zotero is a full citation management tool that allows you to collect and organize a research library, and then generate citations from what you've accumulated. It is a very fast product which will save you a lot of time once you've learned how to use it.  To download go here. For a full guide on using Zotero check out this LibGuide!

Other Citation Tools:

There are many options for referencing and citation tools. Like Zotero, another example is Endnote. Some tools are web-based, for example, MyBib, Cite this, and BibMe.  The library's EBSCO database also has an inbuilt tool, Cite Me, allowing students to copy and export the correct Harvard reference. Check out the Library Moodle page for more suggestions!