#howtodoassignment

Introduction

When you are new to undergraduate studies, referencing may not seem like something important. Although the assignment requirements at levels three and four may not emphasise the importance, it actually is. The assignments at these levels give you many good opportunities to learn how to reference the sources that you use. Take advantage of these opportunities. When you get to level five where referencing is a core requirement, you will already be good at it. That’s a smart thing to do! Within business and management studies, the Harvard referencing style is commonly used. This is the same for many other fields. How can you use the Harvard referencing style though? This article will teach you how to use the Harvard referencing style. You will also learn about the resources that you can use for Harvard and other referencing styles. What does academic referencing mean for starters?

What is Academic Referencing?

Academic referencing is the act of acknowledging the sources of information that you use in your academic work such as essays, reports, and dissertations. This draws the reader’s attention to where you got the information, ideas, or quotations from. It allows the reader to consult the source if they wish to know more about the topic. Or, in the case of a lecturer, to verify the authenticity. In business and management studies, you have to acknowledge the author of each source that you use twice. That is, by in-text citation and referencing.

Academic referencing vs In-text citation

Both concepts are similar and are used interchangeably. However, they are not the same. The differences are below:

In-text Citation In the Harvard referencing style and many other styles, an in-text citation is the first time an author is acknowledged. This is when the author is cited where the information was used in your work. For example, if you wrote an author’s idea in your own words within the first paragraph, you cite the author in that paragraph. The in-text citation gives only brief information about the source such as the surname and year of publication. When you quote an author word-for-word, include the page number in the in-text citation. The in-text citation can either be integrated into the sentence or not integrated. Below are examples of in-text citations for Harvard referencing style in different scenarios. These are general examples. Ensure that you check the version of Harvard referencing that your college or university uses. It would mostly be the same, but it is worth checking. Integrated into the sentenceNot integrated into the sentenceOne author:   Brown (2019) states that it is important to study our history for a better understanding of current issues. According to Brown (2019), it is important to study our history for a better understanding of current issues.  One author:   These current issues will make more sense if we study our history (Brown, 2019).Quotation:  Brown (2019, p.44) “states that it is important to study our history for a better understanding of current issues.”Quotation:   “These current issues will make more sense if we study our history” (Brown, 2019, p.44).Two authors (the same book or article):   Brown and Smith (2019) state that it is important to study our history for a better understanding of current issues.   According to Brown and Smith (2019), it is important to study our history for a better understanding of current issues.    Two authors (the same book or article):   The current issues will make more sense if we study our history (Brown and Smith, 2019).Three or more authors (the same book or article):   Brown et al (2019) state that it is important to study our history for a better understanding of current issues.   According to Brown et al. (2019), it is important to study our history for a better understanding of current issues.     Note: Some versions of Harvard referencing include et al (which means ‘and others’) when there are four or more authors, not three or more.Three or more authors (the same book or article):   The current issues will make more sense if we study our history (Brown et al., 2019).More than one author (different books or articles) but the same idea:   Jones (2020) and Johnson (2022) agree that it is important to study our history for a better understanding of current issues.More than one author (different books or articles) but the same idea:  It is agreed that the current issues will make more sense if we study our history (Johnson 2022; Jones 2020).One author (two books or articles) in the same year, same idea:   Brown (2019a) and Brown (2019b) state that it is important to study our history for a better understanding of current issues.One author (two books or articles) in the same year, same idea:   The current issues will make more sense if we study our history (Brown, 2019a; Brown 2019b). Referencing Unlike in-text citations, academic referencing includes all the important details when acknowledging a source. These are the author’s name(s), date of publication, title of publication and place of publication. In addition to the surname included in the in-text citation, the initials of the other names are added. The references for all the sources cited in the work are listed alphabetically at the end. The important information in a reference can be categorised under four headings. These are who, when, what and where. Below are examples using the Harvard referencing style.

Who (Name of the author or organisation if there's no name)When (date of publication)What (name of the book, journal, and title of the article)Where (place of publication, name of publisher, volume, and page numbers) Book Reference  Structure: Surname, Initials. (Year). Book title, (include the edition here if there is one). Place of publication: Publisher.Brown, J.(2018).The History of Modern Science.Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,    Academic Journal Reference  Structure: Surname, Initial. (Year). ‘Title of article’. Name of Journal. Volume (Issue), page numbers.Jones, A.(2020).‘The Effects of Exercise on Mental Health.’ Journal of Health Psychology,25(3), pp. 123-135    Website ReferenceStructure: Surname, initial. (Year). Page Title. Available at: URL: (Accessed: Day/Month/Year)Brown, C.(2019).The Benefits of Meditation for Stress Reduction.Available at: https://www.mindful.org/the-benefits-of-meditation-for-stress-reduction/ (Accessed, 15/04/2023 These are examples of the general structure used for the Harvard referencing style. Your institution may have slight variations based on the version used. If there are, you will find them in the referencing style guide or instructions.

Why is Academic Referencing Important?

Academic referencing is important in several ways. Below are some of the popular ones: Credit Where Credit is Due Citing and referencing the source used in an academic work gives the deserved credit to the author.  This is a good academic practice that recognises the contribution of others to the field. It is also another way to show the academic integrity of the student. Research and knowledge The citation and references in your work show the depth and breadth of research that you have done. This shows the extent of your knowledge and understanding of the topic. Also, it adds credibility to the perspectives in your work and positively contributes to the grade. Prevent Plagiarism Using someone else’s ideas or information and not acknowledging them amounts to plagiarism. This is a serious academic offence. Citation and referencing are safe ways to avoid this. Further Research The references in your work allow others to find the sources to learn more if need be. Also, your lecturer can use references to verify the information in your work.

Popular Referencing Styles

Besides the Harvard referencing style, there are many other referencing styles. The referencing styles that you have to use will depend on your field of study, country of study and your institution. Ensure that you check to be sure you are using the required one. Below is a list of some of the commonly used referencing styles: - APA (American Psychological Association) referencing style. - MLA (Modern Language Association) referencing style. - MHRA (Modern Humanities Research Association) referencing style. - Chicago/Turabian referencing style. - Vancouver referencing style. - IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) referencing style. - AMA (American Medical Association) referencing style. - Oxford referencing style. - OSCOLA (Citation of Legal Authorities) referencing style. - AGPS (Australian Government Publishing Service) referencing style. - AAA (American Anthropological Association) referencing style. - AGLC (Australian Guide to Legal Citation) referencing style.

Referencing Tools and Resources

You don’t necessarily have to write the references of the sources you use from scratch anymore. There are many tools and resources for referencing these days. However, you need to know the right structure or format for different types of sources. This is because some of the online tools and resources may return references with minor errors. Also, the references they produce may not be exactly what your institution requires. In both cases, you can easily correct them if you know the right structure or format. To get the reference of a source you are using via an online library or database, find the link called ‘cite’ or quotation marks. See an example below from Google Scholar, circled in red:

When clicked, it opens five different referencing styles for the source:

Below are several referencing tools and resources that can be used for different referencing styles in many ways. This includes providing referencing guidance, generating references, and managing your references. The goal is to choose a suitable one that you are comfortable with and familiarise yourself with. There are also YouTube videos on how to use most of them. Cite Me RightMendeleyJabRefCitation MachineCiteFastRefWorksCite This For MeRefMeEndNoteCitaviEasyBibBibMeZoteroPapersZetoroBib 

Conclusion

Introduction Have you ever read through an assignment question and asked yourself how do I start answering this? You are not alone. Students sometimes find it challenging to start working on an assignment due to several reasons. Whatever the reasons are, a good approach is to develop a strategy that works and stick to it for every assignment. With time, this becomes second nature to you. In this article, I will share a tried and tested approach that will help you start every assignment like a pro. If you think about it, the best way to start an assignment and be sure you are going in the right direction is to start from the question! This is exactly what we are going to do using the question below. 

Identify the Key Words  The keywords are normally topic-area words and limiting words. Learn more about the topic area and limiting words here. In the assignment question above, these are the underlined words. We need to start from here to know what to look for when searching for materials to read for the assignment.   A common misconception that students have is that the more knowledge you have the easier it is to answer assignment questions. Although knowledge helps, this is far from the truth. Instead, the better you are at researching and finding the right materials the easier it is to answer assignment questions.   The good news is that research skills are learnt, we are not born with them. Think about it this way, if one learner searched and read two sources on a topic, say internet marketing, and another learner searched and read ten sources on the same topic who do you think would know more? As a university student, your knowledge doesn’t matter as much as the extent and standard of your research skills. The earlier you start learning how to research the better you become as you progress academically. These steps help develop initial research skills.  Determine Where to Search for Materials  Once the keywords have been identified, the next step is to find the topic-area words in the recommended books and other sources for the module. You will normally have access to these, if not, ask the tutor or lecturer. Access can be via an online library or via a brick-and-mortar library. This post focuses on online access only.   At level four (first year of undergraduate studies), you may find a good amount of information about the topic area in the recommended books and other sources to write most of your assignment. This is not the case for level five and beyond. If you are a level four learner, it is a good idea to start learning how to find sources online because that is the definite destination you are going to. So, the earlier you start, the better in the long run. Your university/college online library would normally be linked to websites, databases and platforms where you can search for sources. Some examples of these are sciencedirect.com, bibliu.com, jstor.org, ebsco.com, eric.ed.gov, scopus.com, springer.com. A broadly similar approach is used to search for sources on these online resources. Beyond what your university offers, scholar.google.com offers access to millions of academic sources. Put simply, as a student, Google Scholar is your friend. Use it. Let’s have a go Link your University Library to Google Scholar To avoid having to access all the different academic websites, databases or platforms that your university already subscribes to, link your university to Google Scholar. This will allow you to access all the available sources around your topic area in one go on Google Scholar. Follow the steps below to do this. Let’s link Arden University Library.  Open scholar.google.com and click the menu icon on the top left corner. 

Click on Settings in the menu and go to Library Links

Type the name of your university in the search bar and click search. Your university will come up as it did for Arden University. Tick the box and save it below.

Ensure that you sign into your university library on the same browser before using Google Scholar. The materials that your university has subscribed to will appear as Pdf or other files on the right-hand side of the results. For example, before linking Arden University Library, besides the free materials which are available to everyone, the paid ones were not accessible below: 

After linking, the ones that Arden University subscribes to become accessible as seen below:

Use the Keywords to Search for Materials  To get materials that you can start reading to answer your assignment questions, you can use a combination of the topic words and limiting words. For example, by using 'internet marketing benefits' the following materials come up: 

introduction Knowing the requirements for assignments and exams at your level of study helps you prepare better before any assessment. You can make the best of the time spent on lessons, workshops, tutorials, studying and general discussions with lecturers and peers. That is, you can get involved in discussions, and activities and ask questions that will help you better meet the requirements at your level of study.    Sadly, some students go through universities without ever knowing what these requirements are. Had they known, they would have prepared for assessments a lot better. Also, their grades and final classifications would have been better consequently. Luckily, this won’t happen to you, because you are here to learn! What are those requirements though?   Bloom’s Taxonomies of Learning   Bloom’s Taxonomies of learning is generally used in many universities to classify the different outcomes expected of learners at different levels. To learn more, check out Harvard University’s article on Bloom’s Taxonomies here. This article will clarify how the different parts of Bloom’s Taxonomies apply to assessments at the different levels of undergraduate studies. The information here will help you better prepare and write your assignments and exams at each level. The breakdown below is based on a typical three-year undergraduate degree.  

Introduction Would you rather think like the lecturer that set your assignment question while answering it, instead of going by your own interpretation? How can you think like the lecturer when you don’t have the superpower to read minds? Actually, you can read the part of the lecturer’s mind that matters for your answer. The clues are all in the command words! What are Command Words? Besides the general instructions in assignment question papers or briefs, command words tell you what to do specifically when writing your answers. This is the case in business and management studies, as well as several other study areas. Some popular command words are describe, discuss, analyse and evaluate. See the list of command words and meaning shared by the University of Leeds Library here. Be sure to use the meaning provided by your university. This is because different universities have minor variations. Let’s use the command words in the sample question below to read the lecturer’s mind.