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Plagiarism and Citing

Adapted from the Victoria University Library, Melbourne LibGuide.

Components of a reference

Whichever referencing style is used, there is information which needs to be relayed to the reader of your work such as:

  • who wrote/created it

  • when was it written/created

  • what is it

  • where can it be found

In other words the information required is:

  • Author

  • Date of publication

  • Title of publication 

  • Article or chapter title (depending on the source)

  • Publisher details

  • Source location eg URL if relevant

The various referencing styles (APA, MLA, AMA, Chicago. etc.) list the rules on how this information will be presented in your work, both in-text and at the end of your work in a reference list. This includes formatting advice such as capitalization, italicization, and punctuation.