How to use referencing and citation styles in Australian universities

Introduction to Referencing and Citation in Australian Universities

While writing your college paper, you might be wondering what is the need of these rigorous forms of referencing and citation styles? Is it for the professor to see or for your own good as well? The main reason which makes referencing important is the overall academic integrity it maintains- the student gets used to showing respect for the original works of intellectuals and demonstrating that they have done the required research for the paper. 

Australian universities are among the best in the world so they follow the same strict procedures to train their students in the most honest pursuit of knowledge and avoid plagiarism. In this article, we will look at the many styles and forms of organising references that are used commonly in Australian universities. If you are an international student, it is important to familiarise yourself with these patterns.   

Understanding the Different Referencing Styles used in Australia

When you write a paper for your university or a journal, it is an exercise in forming original thoughts and ideas. Going through the relevant literature for your research process, you will come across a lot of knowledge pertaining to your study but the entire reason for doing that is to form a knowledge base and not copy or roughly paraphrase the work. Recording of these resources is what referencing and citation teaches us- it shows your thought process and gives credit to the original thinkers of the ideas. 

Different universities in Australia follow different referencing styles and it is important to check with your lecturer which format they want the Tutoring in. Even one department in a university does not follow one consistent method because the fields of study vary and so does their relevant citation method. Sometimes, a university has its own defined referencing style which is derived from a standard one, like the UQ Harvard style for University of Queensland. If a certain referencing style is not mentioned, the safest option to follow is the APA style of formatting. The most commonly used referencing style guides for academic writing in Australian universities are as follows: 

• APA 7 
• Chicago A (footnote) 
• Chicago B (author-date)
• Harvard referencing
• MLA referencing style 
• Vancouver referencing 
• AGLC referencing 
• IEEE 

Using a Referencing Style Guide: Harvard, APA, MLA, AGLC

Depending on your subject and your professor’s preference, you will have to use a certain method of citation and referencing. Let’s look at the most common ones and where they are applied commonly: 

• Harvard referencing: This is an in-text citation style which follows the author-date format. This is not connected to Harvard University and it hasn’t been updated for 15 years. Most universities might be moving away from this kind of referencing style.   

• APA referencing: The most preferred style of formatting, the American Psychological Association referencing system, applies to almost all disciplines of study. Citations are stated within the text with the author-date of publication format, while the reference list is at the end of the paper in an alphabetical order 

• MLA referencing: For languages, literature, humanities and communication related studies, MLA format is preferred. All types of sources (books, papers, images, social media posts) are cited in the text and referred to the ‘Works Cited’ list at the end of the paper which states the core elements of the source

• AGLC (4) referencing: Australian Guide to Legal Citation is followed in Australia for all legal citations. It is a footnote type of referencing format which has different guidelines to quote domestic sources, secondary sources, international materials and foreign domestic materials (like citing the laws of countries other than Australia). 

In-Text Citations: Proper Formatting and Placement

In order to follow the right way to mention and place, you have to look at the citation guidelines of the referencing manual that you are following for your research. To give you an example of how in-text citation is commonly done, we will look at the general rules for the citation style of the APA style of formatting: 

• Generally, after quoting, the family name of the author and the year of publishing is mentioned within brackets, for example (Bates, 2005). For three or more authors, ‘et al’ is written after the first author’s name, followed by year of publishing
• For titles of sources, capitalise the first words for words longer than four letters, for example ‘Writing New Media, There Is Nothing Left to Lose’
• For quotations from the source, remember to mention the page in the bracket after the year of publishing (or paragraph, table, etc. if page numbers are not there). For example, ‘…(Miller, 1994, p. 276)…’. You can skip these page references if you are paraphrasing 

End-of-Text References: Creating an Accurate List

In order to understand the point of adding references, you can see the citations as the window to the source and the reference states completely what the source is. Different referencing styles follow different ways of stating the source name. We will look at how a bibliography is written in the next section. Let’s see how APA referencing style defines the standard method to make a reference list: 

• The APA reference list must be double-spaced 
• Entries in the list have a hanging indent 
• Names of books are italicised 
• The first and middle name of the author is written as an initial
• Entries are arranged in the alphabetical order of the last name of the author

Here’s an example of an entry from a reference list, 

Edwards, A. A., Steacy, L. M., Siegelman, N., Rigobon, V. M., Kearns, D. M., Rueckl, J. G., & Compton, D. L. (2022). Unpacking the unique relationship between set for variability and word reading development: Examining word- and child-level predictors of performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 114(6), 1242–1256. 

A good tip when referencing a source is to remember the four Ws- who, what, where and when. 

Bibliography: How to Format and Organise

If the referencing style follows a footnote method, there is a bibliography at the end of the paper instead of a reference list. The footnote is usually referenced to the superscript note in the text and contains the main elements of the source in the order of author, title, and facts of publication. The Chicago A style uses this method so let’s look at how this referencing styles defines the bibliography writing method: 

• Two blank lines are left between the label ‘Bibliography’ and the first entry
• All the entries have a space of one blank line 
• Entries are arranged in alphabetical order depending on the first letter of the entry, whether it is the author name or title of source 

For example, here are two entries in the Chicago style bibliography. The first one is for a book and the second one is for a journal article 

1. Stewart, Bob. “Wag of the Tail: Reflecting on Pet Ownership.” In Enriching Our Lives with Animals, edited by John Jaimeson, 220-90. Toronto: Petlove Press, 2007
2. Andreff, Wladimir, and Paul D. Staudohar. “The Evolving European Model of Professional Sports Finance.” Journal of Sports Economics 1, no. 3 (August 2000): 257–276. https://doi.org/10.1177/152700250000100304 

Note: The DOI is a digital object identifier that is used to reference articles found online. If it is not mentioned, just mention the URL. 

Avoiding Plagiarism: Maintaining Academic Integrity

Holding yourself accountable is very important for your own academic reputation. In order to maintain academic integrity, you have to check with yourself whether you are doing the following or not: 

• Come up with your own ideas and write in your own voice 
• Do not use your friend’s Tutoring or get it heavily edited by someone 
• When you are supporting your statement with someone else’s work, remember to use the correct referencing format when mentioning the source
• Put quotes when directly mentioning some lines from a source 

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Referencing and Citation

• Keep in mind that citations are always connected to the reference list and footnotes with the bibliography at the end of the paper. Most students miss the corresponding reference and lose marks 
• When adding numbered entries in the alphabetical list of references, add them according to the first letter of the number, for example 

‘1. Austen J. Pride and Prejudice. Newton Press

….

2. 360 degree view of the climate change discussion (2022, September 4). The New York Times’ 

Since three sixty starts with ‘T’, it is mentioned after the first entry that starts with ‘A’. 

• Do not use outdated sources for information 
• Forgetting to include page numbers in the references 

Tools and Resources for Referencing and Citation

You can watch tutorials about citation and organise your work using the following resources: 

• APA tutorials
• Endnote to compile citations and generate bibliography  
• Knightcite to create citations in different formats 

Seek help and guidance if needed

Instead of assuming the correct way to cite and reference, you can ask other classmates, a tutor or your professor about the right tools and manuals to learn it. The different formats can be very confusing so it is better to seek guidance and fix the mistakes before submission. You can also submit your work at Tutoring Lounge and get it proofread by a professional.