As a result, there is the paramount need for university students to acknowledge

instances whereby they have used another author’s ideas, statistics, drawings,
tables, diagrams, pictures, and direct quotations to develop their own academic
pieces of writing (Birrell et al., 2010).

Furthermore, instances whereby the secondary authors fail to acknowledge that they
have used another author’s work may compromise the academic integrity of the
secondary authors including facing lawsuits. This phenomenon is known as academic
plagiarism, and it is punishable by learning institutions and law enforcers
(Anyanwu, 2004).

Therefore, the importance of referencing in both academic and technical assignments

cannot be overstated. There are different ways of recording and citing primary
information sources in academic papers.

Here, the sources can be recorded in form of references (all the sources cited in
the text or passage) or a bibliographic list (all the sources used to develop the
whole academic passage or text) relative to the applicable referencing principles,
the nature of academic sources, the frequency of citing, and the acceptable
documentation styles (Rizvi, 2005, p. 309).

Additionally, referencing takes the form of endnotes, parentheses, and footnotes.

In this essay, we will explore the importance of referencing in both academic and
technical writing at the university or tertiary level.

The importance of academic referencing

In view of the foregoing discussions, it is obvious that referencing forms an
integral part of the study skills, which should be made available to all students
at a university and other tertiary levels of learning. Conversely, academic
referencing is important in both academic and technical writing because it enables
the student to record all the information sources used in a text or passage (Rizvi,
2005, p.309). In so doing, the author makes the sources available for future
references just in case the student would need to expand on the ideas presented in
the text or passage.

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On the other hand, recording all the sources used in a text or passage enables the
reader particularly the instructor to gain access to additional information from
the primary source if need be. Furthermore, a record of the primary sources used in
a text or passage enables other researchers who are using the same text or passage
to contact the primary sources in order to retrieve additional data or to take note
of the strengths and the limitations of the academic text or passage (Rizvi, 2005).

Moreover, referencing gives the students the opportunity to avoid instances of

plagiarism in their academic and technical writing. As discussed in the foregoing
paragraphs, plagiarism arises when one author uses another author’s ideas,
pictures, diagrams, and quotations without proper acknowledgement relative to
applicable referencing conventions. In so doing, the author runs the risk of
compromising one’s academic integrity and facing tough lawsuits (Anyanwu, 2004).

Consequently, plagiarism has many negative implications particularly for university

students because in many academic institutions, plagiarism in academic assignments
leads to failed grades, academic warnings, academic suspensions, and in some cases,
a student’s enrollment may be reviewed. However, students can avert the
consequences associated with plagiarism through observing all the referencing
conventions applicable at the university level in their academic assignments
(Rizvi, 2005).
Furthermore, academic referencing reinforces one’s academic integrity and
competencies in studying. From the discussions above, it is notable that there are
many skills in different academic disciplines, which should be learnt in the course
of a student’s life in the university.

For instance, studying at the university or tertiary level entails academic

writing, using different referencing styles, carrying out research on various
topics, and preparing presentations (Fry et al., 2009, p. 119). On the other hand,
referencing informs different aspects of studying at the university or tertiary
level.

As a result, referencing enables the students to appreciate th