Referencing
The purpose of referencing is to show where the information you use comes from. Given this purpose, the first principle is to provide enough information in your citations so that your reader can find that same piece of information themselves. The second principle is consistency in format and style.
The following sections provide information on specific referencing styles. Regardless of which style you use, keep in mind the two main principles.
Know your style
There are a number of different referencing systems or styles in use at ANU. Usually, your College, discipline, or school will indicate which they prefer in the course outline or on the College website. You may be required to use more than one style, particularly if you are enrolled in different Colleges. Students doing both Law and Psychology, for example, would have to use AGLC and APA in the respective disciplines.
In other cases, the lecturer may say that it's up to you to choose. To help you decide, below is an outline of the referencing styles that different disciplines commonly use.
| Field | Typical referencing styles |
| Humanities, Social Sciences, Business | Harvard |
| Visual Art, Art History, History, Music, International Relations, Politics | Chicago |
| Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science | Harvard or APA |
| Psychology, Linguistics, Social Sciences | APA |
| Law, Business Law | AGLC |
| Engineering and Computer Science | Harvard or IEEE |
| Medicine | Vancouver |
How to reference
Be sure to use a good referencing style guide. Referencing style guides are like dictionaries-they give examples and rules. For some styles, such as AGLC, there is only one way to reference sources, so all AGLC style guides should have the same rules. For other styles, such as Harvard, the rules are not so well defined and may differ between guides. What is important is that you are consistent and always apply the same rules from a single guide in one piece of work.
The following pages give guidance on styles and refer you to detailed style guides.
Referencing software
Referencing takes a while to get used to, and it is easy to make small mistakes. There are many software tools that can make it easier. However, you have to be careful, as they do not always give accurate results, and are only as accurate as the information that you put into them.
| Advantages | Disadvantages | |
| Easy to use, available | Inflexible, have to install extra styles | |
| Free for ANU students | Takes time to set up, can be complicated for new users, does not have as many features as other free tools | |
| Free, easy to use, integrates into MS Word, helps organise PDF documents | Takes time to set up, no training or support | |
| Free, easy to use, integrates into MS Word, Firefox and Chrome | Takes time to set up, no training or support, can be complicated for new users | |
| Google citation tool | NOT RECOMMENDED | Styles are often inconsistent, with missing information and incorrect formatting |
| Online citation generators (Cite For Me, etc.) | NOT RECOMMENDED | Styles are often inconsistent, with missing information and incorrect formatting |
Even if you choose to use a tool, you need to be familiar with your referencing style in order to spot mistakes. Being able to check a reference list manually is an important skill for all students and academics.
Reference documents
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