How do I  - cite my references correctly?

What does "referencing" mean and why do I need to do this in my assignment?

References are required if you draw upon another writer's ideas, or if you make a direct quote, in order to avoid plagiarism (see below).  The proper citation of sources is an elementary but essential part of any piece of written academic work. There are several different conventions and it does not matter which one you adopt provided that you cite sources correctly, giving all the necessary information and keep consistently to the same convention. If your School or department has particular guidelines for assignments make sure you  use them. Information on this may be in your course or module handbook.

Online tutorials to teach you how to cite your references

Web resources that tell you how to reference

The Library also has books covering the main conventions, including the following:

• Bosworth, D. Citing Your References: a guide for authors of journal articles and students writing theses and disserations (2004) 025 BOS
• Neville, C. The complete guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism (2007) 808.027 NEV
• Pears, R and Shields, G. Cite them right: referencing made easy (2004) 808.027 PEA
• Radford, M. Web research: selecting, evaluating and citing (2002) 025.04 RAD
• Recommendations for citing and referencing published material 2nd ed. (1990) British Standards Institute 035 BSI (Reference Collection)
• Williams, K and Carroll, J. Referencing and understanding plagiarism (2009) 808.02 WIL
• Xia, L and Crane, N. Electronic Style: a guide to citing electronic information. (1993) 808.02 LI (Reference Collection)

What is plagiarism?

Plagarism is to "take (the work or an idea of someone else) and pass it off as one's own." The Concise Oxford English Dictionary. Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Birkbeck College.28 July 2005 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t23.e43211

Put simply, plagiarism is a form of fraud and regarded as a serious breach of academic regulations. To avoid plagiarism always reference your sources. Advice on avoiding plagiarism is contained in most School handbooks. As a golden rule:

• always reference directly quoted words
• always reference sentences paraphrasing the ideas of another
• always reference a source used in a paragraph in that paragraph

Birkbeck Registry's guidelines on plagiarism tells you about submitting the academic declaration form and what happens if plagiarism is suspected