Library Guides: English: Referencing and plagiarism

Referencing and plagiarism

Referencing is an essential part of academic work and research. It can help you to demonstrate how widely you have read around a topic, acknowledge the work of others (avoiding plagiarism) and enable the reader to find the sources you have cited in your work. Different academic disciplines use different approaches and styles to cite the work of others. Explore the resources below to learn why referencing is important and how to do it in English.

Harvard Referencing guide

Click on the image below to open the Harvard Referencing guide:

MHRA Footnotes Referencing guide

Click on the image below to open the MHRA Footnotes guide:

MHRA Author-Date Referencing guide

Click on the image below to open the MHRA Author-Date guide:

Referencing and plagiarism resources

Why reference? (video)
This video explains why referencing is important and how to get started.

Understanding plagiarism (tutorial)
Understand plagiarism, the difference between collaboration and collusion, and identify ways to avoid plagiarism through appropriate note taking, reference management, and time management.
Understanding plagiarism (Word document, 157 KB)
Understand plagiarism, the difference between collaboration and collusion, and identify ways to avoid plagiarism through appropriate note taking, reference management, and time management.
Referencing: the essentials (tutorial)
This tutorial will give you an understanding of referencing and how you should use it in your academic work.
Plagiarism and referencing quiz (tutorial)
A self help quiz to test your knowledge and understanding of plagiarism and the importance of referencing.
Plagiarism and referencing quiz (Word document, 148 KB)
A self help quiz to test your knowledge and understanding of plagiarism and the importance of referencing.
Guidance for taught course students inserting images and figures into university work (tutorial)
Learn how to attribute images used in your work to give fair credit to those whose work you use, and how this differs in digital and print forms.

Referencing guides

Please confirm with your module tutor. Referencing styles used within the School of English include:

Workshops

Referencing and Preventing Plagiarism
This session introduces the essentials of referencing, the concept of plagiarism and how it can be avoided, and gives you an opportunity to practice referencing in your departmental style. The session will also provide an overview of useful citation tools for this process.
Using Reference Management Software: An Introduction
This session looks at preventing plagiarism and referencing correctly using reference management software. You will gain an overview of the software and how to use it to manage your references, including editing the output where necessary.
Research Skills and Critical Thinking workshops
This workshop programme, from the University of Sheffield Library, delivered in the Information Commons and online, is open to taught course students from all departments.