A really exciting post about referencing

Have you come across the word 'oxymoron'? It describes a phrase or word that means two different things at the same time (my favourite examples are 'fresh frozen' and 'talent show') and the phrase 'exciting post about referencing' falls right into that category.

I know referencing is horrible and time consuming and fiddly and can even result in grown ups behaving like children. I've heard students say, "I HATE THIS" and "IT'S NOT FAIR" and "WHY DO I HAVE TO DO IT?" The library doesn't currently have a naughty step, but we're building a new library and if I get my way...

So. Referencing. Here's a new way to think about it. Try likening referencing to the 3 stages of civilization as imagined by Douglas Adams who wrote the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Be honest, you didn't see that coming, did you?

He jokingly labelled human development as the how, why and where phases. The example he used to illustrate this was eating;

1. How do we eat?
2. Why do we eat?
3. Where shall we have lunch?

Now apply it to referencing.

1. How do I reference? This is the mechanical bit when you learn where the brackets go and where the commas go.
2. Why do I reference? This is the bit where we traumatise you with terrible tales of plagiarism, regret and failure.
3. Where do I put the references in my assignment to get a better mark? It occurs to me that number 3 could also be 'where can I throw this referencing handbook so that I never have to see it again?' We'll stick with the first example though.

You may be a first year coming to terms with phase 1, or you may be coming to the end of your degree having recently nailed phase 3. Whatever your level, learning to reference well is such a crucial skill to have; it improves other areas such as assignment writing and reading skills.

The single best piece of advice I can give you on improving your referencing is this - read some good quality journal articles and take note of how the writer uses references. They're used to highlight evidence, strengthen arguments and organise the themes of the research together.

And don't ever think 'I've only got the referencing left to do'. It takes ages to do it properly so compile it as you're going along. It won't be exciting (much like this post in fact), but it will mean you'll have done it properly and sometimes that's the best outcome available.