UNE referencing
Featured Links
- About UNE referencing
- Author-date (Harvard) referencing style
- Footnoting referencing style
- Law referencing style
- Medicine referencing style
- Psychology referencing style
- Avoiding plagiarism
- Turnitin text-matching reports
About UNE referencing
Referencing is a very important academic convention that recognises that academic writing builds on previous research. In nearly all assignments, you are required to refer to the work of others and you must always explicitly acknowledge this both in the body of your assignment and in a list of references at the end of your work. There are a number of referencing styles in place at UNE and you must know the appropriate style for your course of study. Also, you can access Turnitin to check your work for unacceptable copying of another’s work. The ASO assists you with your referencing with a variety of support materials.
Author-date (Harvard) referencing style
The Author-date system (also known as the Harvard system) is used in most units of study at UNE. This system places author name/s, date/s and pages in brackets with the information in your text. There are a number of ASO print resources to support this system:
- The UNE referencing guide is a handy 6 page brochure which clearly sets out the basic principles of Author-date (Harvard) referencing. It has examples of the most commonly used types of references.
- ASO fact sheets also provide a comprehensive guide for most of your Author-date referencing needs:
- There are explanations and workshops on the ASO subject-specific writing site for Education, Science and Nursing students. These sites show how to reference using the Author-date style for students in these courses:
Footnoting referencing style
History is the only subject that requires you to use footnoting. You may be permitted to use footnoting for other subjects, but please check with your unit coordinator. This system places numbers in the text with corresponding notes at the bottom of each page. There are ASO print resources to support this system:
Law referencing style
The School of Law uses the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (2nd ed, 2002) (AGLC 2). This is a specialised footnoting system that is unique to Law studies. There are links to the AGLC 2, explanations and workshops that show you how to reference using this style on the ASO subject-specific site:
Medicine referencing style
The School of Medicine uses the Vancouver system. This is an Author-date style referencing system. There are links to the Vancouver referencing system with explanations and workshops that show you how to reference using this style on the Dixson Library site:
Psychology referencing style
Psychology students should use the APA system. This is described in your prescribed text.
Avoiding plagiarism
Students are often concerned about plagiarism and its consequences. The best approach to avoiding plagiarism is to be well educated about the issues and to know and apply strategies for plagiarism avoidance.
- UNE Policy - Avoiding plagiarism and academic misconduct (coursework): information for students
- UNE Policy - Avoiding plagiarism and academic misconduct (higher degree research): information for students
- ASO fact sheets :
- Dixson library podcasts
Turnitin text-matching reports
Turnitin is text-matching software, and a tool for students and lecturers to check for a level of similarity between student assignments and other texts. You can run a Turnitin check over your work at any time while you are writing your assignment. If you find that you are issued with a report that indicates that considerable sections of your work have used the words of others inappropriately, then there is much you can do before you submit this to your lecturer, provided that you have allowed yourself some time to correct your referencing errors.
(NOTE: Turnitin will show you where you have copied the words of another person, but it will NOT tell you whether you referenced your writing correctly. This is solely your responsibility.)