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FEBE- Metallurgy: Referencing & Citation

Guide to Metallurgy Information Sources

What is Referencing?

REFERENCING is a way to demonstrate that you have extended your reading, learning and comprehension by using relevant and up-to-date sources.

Primary sources are an original object or document it is the raw material or first-hand information, source material that is closest to what is being studied. refer to the interviews; diaries; biographies; government documents

Secondary sources are what is written about a primary source. These include comments on interpretations or discussions about the original material, articles in newspapers and magazines, reviews of books and movies as well as articles in scholarly journals that evaluate someone else's original research  

Reference List lists only the sources you refer to in your writing. The purpose of the reference list is to allow your sources to be be found by your reader. It also gives credit to authors you have consulted for their ideas

Bibliography contain all the sources that you have used for your paper, whether they are directly cited or not. In a bibliography, you should include all of the materials you consulted in preparing your paper. Chicago citations and Oxford citations are two citation styles that use bibliographies.   

What is a Citation?

Referencing and Citation are frequently used to refer to the same thing although a citation tends to mean the part of the text within your assignment where you acknowledge the source; whilst a reference usually refers to the full bibliographic information at the end. A "citation" is the way you tell your readers that certain material in your work came from another source. It also gives your readers the information necessary to find that source again, including:

  • information about the author & the title of the work
  • the name and location of the company that published your copy of the source
  • the date your copy was published &  the page numbers of the material you are borrowing

 

Why should I Cite and Reference?

  • To give recognition to the original author of the text, opinion, idea, fact, image, etc.
  • To enable your reader to check your information
  • Sources confirm the completeness of the research
  • Quotations and references lend authority to the argument, view, etc.
  • The source list can be consulted by the reader to verify information in the text
  • The sources can be used by the reader as additional sources to a topic

Harvard Quick Referencing Guide