Preparatory Studies Guide: Referencing

Why should you reference?

Referencing is a way of acknowledging the resources you have accessed and used to write your assignments. If you don't reference the resources used, you plagiarize.

Plagiarism is using the ideas or words of another writer as if they were your own, without any form of acknowledgement. This is more than just another form of cheating. It is literary theft. It is stealing someone else's work.

As a student, part of your university education involves learning how to evaluate information thoughtfully in order to use it to create your own original work.

When you use information from articles, books and electronic sources for essays and reports you are expected to acknowledge where your ideas came from. This means more than just documenting the relevant sources. It means acknowledging.

• Key ideas
• Direct quotations
• Paraphrased material (putting it in your own words)
• Any information you did not think of yourself

This is where using an appropriate referencing style comes in. As a Preparatory Studies student you will need to use American Psychological Association (APA). You can find more information on Referencing and the APA Style Guide in CDU Library Referencing LibGuide.

Referencing where you got your ideas is vital for showing academic integrity which is a central part of studying at university. Check out the video below to learn more about academic integrity!