Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

You should always reference sources correctly and consistently, according to the referencing style rules. Whilst accurate referencing may help with your marks, it is important regardless, to ensure you always maintain academic integrity.

The Library provides referencing styles guides for the most commonly used styles.

If your lecturer doesn’t specify a style, APA is a good choice if you need to use in-text citations and if you need to use a footnoting style, we recommend Chicago A .

This often happens when looking at online references, but can occur with other reference types, too.  You will usually have to piece together a reference using a few reference types for your selected style.  It's important to stick with the style requirements, so have a look at the general style notes for clarification.

For more help,  you can ask Library Chat during library opening hours.

Footnote

Footnote citation styles require individually numbered footnotes at the bottom of the page for each citation and a bibliography at the end of the document. Referencing styles which use footnote citations include AGLC and Chicago A (Footnote and Bibliography).

In-text citation

In-text citation styles place citations within the text in brackets, with a reference list of all the sources you cited included at the end of your assessment item. Referencing styles which use in-text citations include APA, Chicago B and MLA.

Once you have selected your preferred reference style we recommend you review the General style notes section, to develop your understanding of the requirements of the style.

In-text referencing styles use citations throughout the text, usually in brackets at the end of, or within the sentence, where it is appropriate. They include the author's family name(s), year of publication, and a page number when directly quoting or pinpointing a source.

The full details of each source referred to are included in the reference list at the end of the work.

In-text styles include APA, Chicago B and MLA.

Once you have selected your preferred reference style we recommend you review the General style notes section, to develop your understanding of the requirements of the style.

Footnote/bibliographic referencing styles have information identified by placing a superscript number at the end of the sentence that includes the direct quote or paraphrase. The number refers the reader to a footnote at the bottom of the page, which contains the details of the source. Chicago A is an example of a footnoting style with a bibliography.

Chicago A requires a bibliography arranged alphabetically by family name including all works cited, plus any other works consulted but not cited.

Once you have selected your preferred reference style we recommend you review the General style notes section, to develop your understanding of the requirements of the style.

Numbered referencing styles are characterised by references indicated in-text by superscript numbers, or numbers in brackets.

Each number corresponds to a particular source and refers to a list at the end of the paper. This list provides full details of the sources used, arranged in the order they first appear in the text. Vancouver style is the most widely used example of this style.

We recommend you review the General style notes to develop your understanding of the requirements of the style.

Some citation styles require or encourage the inclusion of a DOI in your reference entry.

A DOI® (digital object identifier) is a unique number, that is assigned to identify a journal article, book chapter or data set, and provides a persistent link to its location on the Internet. Not all journal articles have DOIs, particularly older journal articles and articles from lesser-known journals. However, more and more articles are now assigned a DOI.

Some reference styles require the DOI to be included, so it is best to understand the style requirements.

Including DOI in your reference list provides a direct and persistent link to the source, unlike URLs, which may expire.

If you are unable to find a DOI for a source, the URL will be sufficient.

Note - make sure you choose the right referencing template for DOI or URL links.

Using a citation generator or reference management software will make the process of creating references faster but it is not essential.

If you only need to reference a few sources, or you need to focus on writing an assignment, it could be more time efficient to create them manually. Have a look at the Options for managing references guide to determine which approach is right for you.

If you do decide you want to use a citation generator or reference management software, you can access all of the tools we support from the Reference management software page.

Citation generators help you with the referencing process by generating references in your selected referencing style, which you can copy and paste into your bibliography or reference list.

It is important to understand the requirements of your style because citation generators are not always completely accurate.

You can find more information on citation generators in the Managing References guide.

A direct quote uses the exact words of the author to communicate an idea or argument. Paraphrasing is expressing the author's views or ideas in your own words. In both cases, you must provide citations.

You should use a direct quote only when the words of the author cannot be rephrased or when they illustrate your argument.

For more information about integrating sources in your writing, refer to Using sources in assessments: voice in academic writing.

You can find lots of resources and guides for citing referencing  in Re:cite.

Here's some suggestions:

• Watch a video to understand what citing and referencing  actually is.
• Look at the Getting Started with Referencing page for help with referencing and using sources in your writing.
• Check out all the major referencing styles used at the University of Melbourne, to help you choose which referencing style to use, and help with formatting your citations and references.
• Get started with using reference management software  by watching a Webinar recording.
• Speak to an Academic Skills advisor for some one to one advice.

For general referencing help, ask a librarian through library chat or face to face at the information desk across our 11 libraries.