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When referencing your assignments, mistakes are easy to make!
Follow this guide to find out what the most common mistakes are and how to avoid them!
Citations in Alphabetical Order. Your list of references cannot be in a random order. All your references should be in alphabetical order by the author's surname of the source.
The first option is wrong because the first source listed is 'Thornton, L'. The author's name begins with 'T'. The source below 'Greene, R' should go first as the first letter of the author's surname comes before the others in the alphabet. With the third source, the author's surname begins with a P 'Pears, R' so this should go second as it is before T in the alphabet but not before G.
How to avoid it?
A great tip to sort your references in alphabetical order can be found in Word. Highlight your references and go to 'Sort'. This can be found under the home tab in Word. Make sure under 'sort by' you select 'paragraphs', under 'type' select 'text' and select 'ascending'. This then then puts your references in alphabetical order.
Putting references in alphabetical order:
Missing out References or Citations. A common mistake people make when referencing is missing out the reference or in- text citation. Sometimes, people add in an in-text citation, but this is then not listed at the end of their assignment in their list of references, or vice versa. The two come as a pair, so it's important you have both!
How to avoid it?
Check at the end that every in-text citation leads to a reference in your list at the end of your assignment.
Not including full web addresses. If you are referencing a website you visited, it's important you include the full URL in 'available at'.
How to avoid it?
A great way to avoid this mistake is by keeping a note of all your references. This way it's easy to go back to them. To add in the web address, copy the URL at the top of your web page - it should start with https:// or www. Copy this in after 'Available at:'
Punctuation. Probably one of the hardest parts of referencing - punctuation! It's important to make sure punctuation is in the correct place when you are referencing.
How to avoid it?
There is a couple of ways to avoid this. First, give yourself time to reference! When you leave things to the last minute this is often when these types of mistakes are made. Set yourself time to check the punctuation.
Secondly, make sure you copy the template exactly as the examples on this help centre or on our LRC Moodle page. Make sure all your commas and brackets are in the right place.
Referencing Generators. This one isn't a mistake but is certainly common. Using online referencing generators may seem like a great option and certainly can be quicker. However, it's important to remember that these generators can only be good as the data that you are providing them with. If there is missing information in the data, it may cause inconsistencies with the formatting like wrong punctuation.
How to avoid it?
Make sure you double check the information and the data that is being provided, double check fields like the author, publication date etc. If you have found something the online generator hasn't, make sure you add it into the correct field.
Most importantly, if you are unsure of one of your references, please ask a member of your Learning Centre team! It is better to get it checked by a professional to ensure there aren't any mistakes.
You can access support from us in person by visiting your Learning Centre, or you can click here to create a help ticket. Our email is also available at: asklrc@stcg.ac.uk where you can request a one-to-one to discuss referencing - we're here to help!
Download our Help Guides: