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2020 Referencing

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Referencing isn’t just about having full stops and commas in the right places, it helps you show where your ideas come from and make sure you can’t be accused of plagiarism.

When you reference, remember that you need to:

  • Be consistent: use the same referencing style throughout your work
  • Give your reader enough information so they can find the same source you read
  • Fully acknowledge the source you took the idea or quote from

Have a look at the University's guidance on Academic Integrity, and the University of Worcester Assessment Policy (section 6), which explains this in more detail.

To access the online tutorial for your referencing style, please go to the Cite Them Right tutorial webpage. For more details on how to create an account and complete the tutorial, please see our FAQ.

Working out which style to use

There are lots of referencing styles and you need to use the right one for your subject. This table shows you which style to use and how to use it.

Style

Subject

Guidance

Harvard (Cite Them Right) 

All courses except those listed below

Short guide (for 12th edition Cite Them Right, May 2022)

Full guidance (Cite Them Right website)

APA

Psychology courses

Short guide (August 2020)

Full guidance (7th edition)

Concise guide (7th edition ebook)

APA style blog

MHRA

English Literature

History

Creative Writing

Screenwriting

Short guide (August 2019)

Full guidance

OSCOLA

Law

Short guide (August 2019)

Full guidance

International OSCOLA

Vancouver

Medicine

Physician Associate MSc

Urgent and Acute Adult Care PGCert

FdSc Dental Technician

Short guide (August 2019)

Citing Medicine (2007, 2nd edn) - NLM style guide

Full guidance (Cite Them Right website)

How to make referencing easier

Cite Them Right is an easy to use tool that helps you format your references correctly. It also has a handy referencing tutorial to help you understand the basics.

You could also try using a reference management tool like Mendeley or Zotero. These are free to use and help you store and organise references to things you’ve read. They also help format your references directly into your essays. Our overview of referencing tools will help you pick the best one for you.