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Engineering: Referencing

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Contact your RASL: christopher.vernon@warwick.ac.uk

Why reference?

It is important to learn the scholarly practice of citing other people’s research, and referencing the material you have used. 

Referencing: 

  • Enables your reader to find the material you have referred to  

  • Demonstrates your breadth of reading about the subject 

  • Supports and/or develops your argument

  • Avoids plagiarism: using somebody else’s work without acknowledging the fact is plagiarism. It is important to always reference when quoting or paraphrasing another person’s work 

Referencing is the academic practice of acknowledging the sources you have used in your work. Sources may be other people's words and ideas, or legal authorities such as legislation and case law.

Referencing demonstrates your ethical use of information, and the range of your research and reading, provides authority to your arguments, enables others to find materials cited, and avoids accusations of plagiarism.

Plagiarism is the use of another person's work without proper acknowledgement. Most plagiarism is unintentional and the result of poor academic practice. It is important to reference when directly quoting or paraphrasing another person's work. 

Referencing styles are sets of rules governing referencing practice. They prescribe the type, order and format of information in a reference. There are 3 main types of referencing style: in-text, footnote and endnote. Always check what referencing style is required by your department or assessment, as there may be local interpretations.

Referencing styles for Engineering

The Engineering Department uses either Harvard or a numerical style. You can find guides to these styles here.

How to reference

The Library has an online course that will take you through the process of referencing which you can find here

 

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is an academic offence and something that the University takes very seriously. You can find an online course that takes you through what plagiarism is and how to avoid it here.

 

Referencing Software

Referencing software allows you to manage references, insert citations and create a bibliography, in your referencing style.

EndNote iconEndNote

EndNote is referencing software from Clarivate. EndNote is available from Warwick IT Services, and is supported by Warwick Library. Please see the EndNote LibGuide for further information. 

Featured Book

Cite them right book cover

Cite Them Right Online

Cite Them Right Online image

Cite Them Right Online is the University of Warwick Library's new interactive referencing tool. It has rules and tutorials for referencing all major resource types across 8 major referencing styles including APA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, MHRA, MLR, OSCOLA and Vancouver.

Watch the short video to find out how Cite Them Right Online can help you.

To access Cite Them Right Online, click on Login > Login via your Institution > University of Warwick.