In academic writing, it's essential that you cite (state) your sources of information and ideas. To ensure readers know where you found the information you must include references.
You need to reference all the sources that you use in your assignments - by citing them in the main body of your assignment (an in-text reference) and compiling a full reference list at the end of your work.
A number of guides are available to help you get to grips with referencing:
You can email referencing.support@solent.ac.uk for help. Queries will be dealt with as quickly as possible but please allow up to 72 hours for a response from the Information team. Please note that this service does not include proof reading or checking of references.
Log into SOL to watch the video
Test your knowledge of Referencing by taking the tutorial
This tutorial will show you some "hacks" to help make the process of producing the reference list easier. It does not touch on the tricker in-text citation process. Please note that none of the hacks is foolproof, you do still need to understand your referencing style to detect any errors. But all the hacks definitely do help
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RefWorks is a tool to help you to manage your references. You can export references directly from the library catalogue, databases and even Google Scholar directly into RefWorks and format them into Harvard SSU or other style as required. There is also a tool that can grab webpages and import them into account.
If you use RefWorks it will do most of the work for you, but it will make mistakes as it can only work with the data it can see - garbage in, garbage out. Check the output before submitting your assignments.
Visit the RefWorks LibGuide for help in setting up your account
Watch the video on setting up a RefWorks account and adding references
This short video will demonstrate some additional tools you may wish to use
Take this tutorial to help you decide what kind of source you are trying to reference. If you recognise the type of source in front of you, it will help you get the reference right at the end of your piece of work.
