Citation and Referencing

What this page covers

The resources here are about crediting other people's work properly. Most deal with APA style, but you will also find Harvard, Turabian and general guidance on why and when to cite. The mind maps break each topic into short branches, so you can scan a style rule in a minute.

Where to start

Begin with the mind map APA Style Format. It sets out the basics: title page, double spacing, 12 point font, 1 inch margins and page numbers in the upper right hand corner. Next, open Reference list APA style_1, which covers the basic components of an entry, such as the author's name, last name first, the publication date, the title and the publication data.

If you are unsure what needs a citation at all, look at the mind maps What needs to be cited and Tips To Avoid Accidental Plagiarism. For a wider view of sources, Chapter 4: Compiling a Research Bibliography looks at primary and secondary sources and academic journals.

Using quizzes and maps together

1. Read one mind map slowly, then close it.
2. Take a related quiz, such as APA Referencing, which asks things like whether entries in a reference list go in alphabetical order.
3. Note every question you missed and go back to the matching branch of the map.
4. Repeat with a harder quiz.

The two APA quizzes, part 1 and part 2, follow the manual by section number. Part 2 includes direct quotations: always give the author, year and a page or paragraph number. Module 3- Citations is a gentler quiz on why we cite and the three common styles.

Other styles and tools

The Harvard Referencing mind map shows how to reference a book, an article and a webpage. The note Reporting statistics in APA style gives a worked example with means, standard deviations and a t-test. For managing sources, there are maps and a quiz on bibliographic management applications, plus a note on using EndNote (X9).

Where it fits

This unit sits in the Study Skills, Sources and Literature strand of Research methods and academic skills. Teachers can set a quiz as a quick check before an assignment is handed in.

Choose one map today, test yourself on it, then make a flashcard deck of the rules you keep forgetting.