A guide to referencing the work of others

There are many ways to reference the work of other writers. It is important that you avoid plagiarism (this
is a crime) by referencing anything which comes from a source written by somebody else.

So how do you do it?

If you want to take information from a source and use it in a section of your report without copying the
text directly (a direct quote), you could do it like this:
In his article ‘The Malaria Plague in Western Africa’ (2002), Smith describes/highlights/explains the main
causes of infection and reaches the conclusion that in Somalia 95% of sufferers are contaminated
through direct contact with mosquitoes.
Or you could use footnotes;
In Somalia, 95% of sufferers are contaminated through direct contact with mosquitoes 1.
________________________________________________

1 Smith, A. “The Malaria Plague in Western Africa”, Young Scientist Journal, May 2002, p. 45
Author’s Name, Title, Publisher, Date, Pages/Sections

If you do not know some of the information, use the word Unknown:

1 Unknown Author, “The Malaria Plague in Western Africa”, Young Scientist Journal, May 2002, p. 45

To insert footnotes in Word, put the cursor in your text, click the References tab at the top and click insert footnote.

Referencing different types of sources:

Online videos – Use the following structure for TED Talks, YouTube videos, etc
JakeJones119, 2016. Malaria, the killer bug. [online video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=_f_3PNlkaKs [Accessed 8 November 2017].

Interviews –( NOTE: In your appendix, you should provide a profile/biography of any interviewees.)
If the interviewee gives permission for his/her name to be used:
MATHIESON, A., 2017. The Cures of Malaria, Interview with (your name) on 25 October 2017. Hexham.

If the interviewee wishes to remain anonymous:

INTERVIEWEE 1, 2017. The Cures of Malaria, Interview with (your name) on 25 October 2017. Hexham.

1
New scientist
IBID and Op.Cit
If you are using the same source as the previous footnote, you can write Ibid. If there is a different section
or page number, give this information (see below in footnotes 4 & 5).
If you are using the same source as a previous footnote but not the one you’ve just used, you can write the
name of the author and op.cit. If there is a different section or page number, give this information (see
below in footnotes 6 then 8).

4. R. Poirer, "Astrophysics", GCSE Physics textbook, Hodder (1993) p. 40.

5. Ibid., p. 91.
6. T. Eliot, "Getting into Astrophysics", Young Scientist Today, (June 2016), p. 141.
7. R. Builder, “The astrophysicist’s challenge” Physics and Chemistry for A-level,  2016, p
115-117.
8. Eliot, op. cit., p.148.

Reference list
At the end of your report, you should provide a bibliography which contains the following:
A reference list – a list of all of your sources in alphabetical order according to the author’s surname.
TIP: You may choose to separate the sources in your reference list into different types (books, web articles,
blog pages, online videos) but this is only useful when you have a large number of sources.
A further reading list – List any other sources you have consulted which, while not directly referenced in
your work, may have influenced your writing.

NOTE: This is not the place to reflect on the usefulness of sources; You should have a separate Research
Log for this. Your research log should contain a list of things you have read/watched/etc and a reflection on
their usefulness.