A few definitions

Before we start thinking about why referencing is important, it's helpful to make sure you understand what a few key terms mean.

• Paraphrasing: summarising other people’s ideas, research or opinions in your own words.
  
  
• Quoting: using somebody’s exact words in your work.
  
  
• Referencing: acknowledging the source of other people’s words, ideas or evidence in your academic writing.
  
  
• Plagiarism: presenting somebody else’s work as your own (intentionally or unintentionally).
  
  

Every time you use someone else's ideas, argument, data, image and so on you need to provide a reference. This is the case whether you have paraphrased their work (put it into your own words) or quoted directly. If you reference correctly, you will avoid plagiarising!

 

Image from iStockPhoto, purchased for use by University of Birmingham.