Before choosing a reference style, please consult with your lecturer on which style and variation thereof should be used.
All new knowledge is built on previous knowledge. In academic writing such as assignments, theses, research articles and reports it is standard practice to give an overview of the current knowledge about a topic and to provide evidence to support the points that you make. These ideas will form the foundation for your own arguments and will be integrated into your own work by:
The ability to relate one's own work to existing knowledge is a skill that needs to be mastered by every student. This is done by acknowledging all the sources of information in the text of your assignments and providing a list of these sources at the end in the form of a bibliography or reference list in the specific style that is prescribed by your faculty.
If this is not done correctly, it may give the impression that you are trying to pass off the work of another as your own and you may be accused of committing plagiarism which is a serious offence.
Printed Books
Author surname, author initial(s).(Year of publication). Title of th-e book
(edition number if it is not the 1st edition). Place of publication: Name of
the publisher.
Printed Journal article
Author surname, author initial(s).(Year of publication). Title of the article.
Title of the Journal, volume number (issue number), page numbers of the
article.
Sources from the internet
Author/editor surname, author/editor initial(s). (Year, month and date of
last update or copyright). Title of the page/document. Month, date and
year of retrieval (if necessary), and the URL
e-Books
Cite electronic books as printed books unless only available electronically.
To reference the entire book use “Available from” and the URL. Use
“Retrieved from” when directing readers to specific material. Cite the
same as for the print version but include either a Digital Object Identifier
(DOI) or a URL at the end. If a DOI is available, include it at the end of
the citation. The database name is not necessary. If no DOI is available,
include the URL at the end of the citation.
Electronic journals
Use exact URL for articles freely available. Use the journal homepage
URL for those available by subscription (not the database URL in which
it was seen). Do not use a retrieval date. Indicate material type in square
brackets after title.
Lecturer Notes
Include university name and location. When outside SA give city, state
and country unless it is part of the university name.
In-text referencing (example)
This was seen in an Australian study (Conger, 1979).
The purpose of this page is to inform and support all students and staff concerning anti-plagiarism. The University of Pretoria defines plagiarism as follows:
“Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s work, words, images, ideas, opinions, discoveries, artwork, music, recordings or computer-generated work (including circuitry, computer programs or software, websites, the Internet or other electronic resources) whether published or not, as one’s own work without properly acknowledging the source” [UP Plagiarism Prevention Page]
Training Sessions are offered by request or on Tuesdays and Thursdays
Printed Books
Author(s) of book - surname and initials, Year of publication, Title of book -italicised, Edition, Publisher, Place of publication.
Printed Journal article Sources from the Internet
Author(s) of article -surname and initials Year of publication, ‘Title of article - in single quotation marks, Journal name - italicised, volume
number, issue number, page number(s).
Internet
Author (person or organisation) Year (site created or revised), Name (and place if applicable) of the sponsor of the site, date of viewing the site (date month year), <URL>.
e-Books
Author(s) of book - surname and initials Year of publication, Title of book - italicised, Edition, Publisher, Place of publication. Available from http://
www.psychwww.com/books/interp/toc.htm. [Accessed 28 May2002].
Electronic journals
Author(s) of article -surname and initials Year of publication, ‘Title of article - in single quotation marks, Journal name - italicised, volume
number, issue number, page number(s), viewed 8 Nov 2004, http://www.catchword.com/
Lecturer Notes
SURNAME, INITIAL(S). Year of presentation. Lecture title, lecture notes distributed in the topic module code (capitalised) title of the module.
Teaching organisation, the location on a date. Do not use italics.
In-text referencing, the example below places emphasis on the writer
Rajaratnam (2001, p.1005) concludes that ‘The cost to the nation’s health of working out of phase with our biological clocks is probably
incalculable at present.’ (Rajaratnam 2001, p.1005).
