OCA preloader logo
Ask the librarian - The Open College of the Arts

To find out more details about the transfer to The Open University see A New Chapter for OCA.

Ask the librarian thumb

Ask the librarian

Referencing: an introduction

Even if you have just started studying at the Open College of the Arts you have probably already heard the words “referencing” and “citation”.
But what is referencing, and why do you need to use it in your writing?
When submitting your written assignments, it is important to acknowledge ideas taken from other people’s work – this enables anyone reading your work to look up the sources of your research. There are a number of different referencing standards that help you do this, but the University for the Creative Arts Teaching, Learning and Assessment Committee chose the internationally recognised Harvard method as the standard referencing and citation system for all courses at UCA in October 2007.  As OCA courses are accredited by the UCA we follow this same method.
Most universities modify the system slightly to suit the needs of their students, so if you consult other universities’ Harvard referencing guides you will find differences between them. For this reason, it is important you use UCA’s own Harvard Referencing guide when completing your assignments.
To find out more, browse to our Harvard Referencing webpage by clicking here.  

 


Posted by author: Helen Barrett

One thought on “Ask the librarian

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to blog listings