• Why reference?
• APA 7th referencing guide
• Assisting materials
• Managing Your References 

The importance of referencing in academic writing:

• To show respect for the original source. Using someone else's work as your own without properly acknowledging it is considered intellectual theft.
• To demonstrate that you have done the research. Your teachers want to see that you have considered the experts when forming the basis of your arguments.
• To show what research you've done. Your teacher must assess the quality of your research. Accurate referencing following a specific style will enable the reader to easily locate and verify your research.
• To avoid plagiarism. Failure to properly acknowledge when you have used the work of others means you are implying that the idea or words are yours. This is plagiarism and the consequences may affect your academic progress at university.

# Read the VU Academic Integrity Policy for more details.

# Visit also our comprehensive Academic Integrity at VU library guide.

All information, whether obtained from books, journal articles, websites, audiovisual materials, course notes or course presentation, or other sources, must be referenced.
Referencing is two steps process:

• a citation in the text of the assessment
• a list of references at the end of the assessment.

# Consult our  APA 7th Referencing guide for detailed information on formatting citations and references.

# More information and examples are included on the APA Style website under the heading 'Style and grammar guidelines', and in the section. See also the Frequently Asked Questions about APA Style.

It is crucial to keep a record of all the information sources you use. There are a wide variety of tools you can use to collect citation information, cite your sources in-text as you write your paper, add PDF files and annotate them, create bibliographies, and share your citations with others.

A couple of suggestions:

• EndNote
• Mendeley