Referencing & Citing at BUV

Learn how to give credit, avoid plagiarism, and strengthen your academic voice.

WHAT IS CITING?

Citing means acknowledging the sources you’ve used in your work. This includes brief references whenever you:

• Directly quote someone else’s words
• Paraphrase or summarize their ideas
• Use their data, images, or concepts

Citations typically include the author’s name, publication year, and page number (if quoting). The citation style (e.g., Harvard, APA) dictates the exact format.

WHAT IS REFERENCING?

Referencing means compiling a full list of all sources cited or consulted, placed at the end of your document. This list allows readers to locate and verify your sources.

A reference includes details like:

• Author(s)
• Title of work
• Publication date
• Publisher or journal
• DOI or URL (for online sources)

Why Should You Reference?

Proper citing and referencing are essential because they:

• Give credit – Acknowledge others’ intellectual contributions.
• Prevent plagiarism – Clearly distinguish your ideas from others’.
• Strengthen arguments – Support claims with credible evidence.
• Enable verification – Allow readers to check original sources.

When Should You Reference?

You must reference whenever you use someone else’s intellectual property, including:

• Direct quotes – Always cite word-for-word excerpts.
• Paraphrasing – Even if reworded, credit the original idea.
• Summarizing – Condensing larger sections still requires citation.
• Data/statistics – Include source of non-original data.
• Images/figures/graphs – Credit creators of visuals.
• Online content – Websites, blogs, social media posts.
• Theories/concepts – If not common knowledge.

How Do You Reference?

There are two main systems:

Parenthetical Citation (In-text)

Brief citations appear in parentheses within your text (author, year). Full details go in a reference list at the end.

Used by: Harvard, APA, MLA

Footnote / Endnote Citation

Full citations appear at the bottom of the page (footnotes) or end of the document (endnotes).

Used by: Chicago Manual of Style

Two Main Elements of Referencing

• Citation (in-text): Brief mention in your writing.
• Reference List: Full bibliographic details at the end.