Welcome to this short online course, which will run over the next 5 days.  We will cover the 4 styles of referencing used at Swansea University, each day we will show you the set rules around how to reference different types of material in your chosen style.

You should always check with your College if you are unsure of what style to use, however generally these are the styles used by Colleges:

  • College of Arts & Humanities – MHRA or APA 6th edition.
  • College of Engineering – Vancouver
  • College of Human & Health Sciences - APA 6th edition.
  • Hilary Rodham Clinton School of Law – Oscola
  • Medical School – Vancouver or APA 6th edition.
  • School of Management – APA 6th edition

One question we get asked a lot is why is correct referencing so important in assignments? Referencing is a very important part of your academic course.  If you use someone else’s work without acknowledging them you will be committing plagiarism.  Referencing correctly will not only give the author of the work full recognition but also demonstrate to your lecturer you have read academic sources and read widely.  We would recommend you complete the online Academic Integrity module available to you via Blackboard before you start writing your assignments.

The key to referencing well in an assignment is to always use good reliable sources.  Finding stuff on the internet is easy; finding good reliable stuff on the internet is a little more challenging.  We would always recommend you start by looking at the reading list provided to you by your lecturer on Blackboard.  Look to the left of the screen in your Blackboard module (ie: SHN126) and you can see a link to the interactive reading list. 

Each resource in the reading list will allow you to click on it and it will take you back to ifind, the library catalogue.  The library catalogue will give you enough bibliographic information to be able to reference the resource you need.

If you have any questions so far let us know using the comments section in the blog or via twitter using #su5dor - Tomorrow we’ll look at the APA 6th ed. style of referencing.