Writing references - citing your sources

In academic texts, you should use the existing knowledge of others to legitimize your arguments. This makes your arguments stronger and gives them academic value. Referencing (citing) is giving credit to the sources of information that you have used in your thesis, report, or other academic work. It has to be clear what's your contribution and what facts and ideas has been used from other sources. Correct referencing is also important so that the reader of your work is able to locate your sources if they want to learn more and dig deeper.

When do you have to cite your sources? 

You must cite your sources when you:

• Paraphrase or summarize someone else's ideas (using your own wording/voice).
• Make a direct quote from a source, even when you refer to your own previous work (self-citation).
• Uses statistics or other specific information obtained from a source that you have read, seen or heard.
• Uses photographs, figures, diagrams or illustrations that you have not designed and created yourself.
  
  

When do you not need to use references in your work?

• General knowledge. This may differ depending on your who you are and who your target audience is.

  • For example dates of generally known events, recognized facts, general observations, stories/folklore.

  • Knowledge that is known in your specific research field (the level of how much facts you need to refer to may differ depending on whether you are a researcher or a student)

  • If you are uncertain, don't hesitate to ask your teachers, and generally it's better to cite the source, than not. 

Why use references?

The video below will given an introduction to why you should use references in academic writing. 

Video Why references?  (5:04 min) - Lund University.

Using quotations

If you want to use something word-to-word (verbatim), for example a definition or something that has been expressed in a specific way that is important to point out, you should make a quotation. A quotation must be an exact reproduction and have to be marked out as a quotation. Shorter quotations are marked with quotation marks ("") and longer quotations as a block quotation, that is, by writing it as a separate paragraph with indents in the text but without quotation marks. Quotations should be used sparingly. You should also add the page number in the text reference when you qoute.

Paraphrasing

The most common way of using other sources is to paraphrase them. That is, that you express someone else's text or ideas in your own voice (wording), while keeping the same essential meaning of the source. You will show the reader that you’ve understood your sources and can make it fit in your own text. It’s also possible to summarise your sources. Summarising means taking a long passage of text from someone else and condensing the main ideas in your own words. Remember to always cite the sources you have used.

The parts of a reference

What is a correct citation and what should you consider when referencing?

Video Parts of a reference (7 min) - Lund University.

This video is part of a MOOC  (Massive Open Online Course) about academic writing that is offered at Lund University.  All videos are available at  "Academic writing " on YouTube. Links to an external site..

Using signal phrases   

Signal phrases are words such as reported, claimed, argued, demonstrated, showed, that are used to make it clearer that the text you have referenced is written by someone else. They can be neutral ( f.ex. reported, showed) or evaluative (claimed, emphasized, argued).