Food Engineering

Referencing is important in academic writing and an essential part of any of your assignments. It:

• allows you to acknowledge your sources,
• gives academic credibility to your work,
• demonstrates your knowledge of a subject area,
• prevents accusations of plagiarism.

You should always reference a source when:

• using a direct quote
• summarising a theory
• discussing someone else's opinion
• using case studies
• quoting statistics or visual data
• but not when stating your own opinion, observation or experience.

Plagiarism is "the wrongful... publication as one's own, of the ideas, or the expression of the ideas of another" (Oxford English Dictionary)

Which referencing style should you use?

The School of Engineering uses the IEEE and/or Harvard style guides. Please check with your lecturer to determine which style you should use.

This short tutorial explains what plagiarism is and also gives you tips on how to avoid it. It takes about 20 minutes to complete

NCFM uses Harvard referencing style.