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Study Tips – How to Reference Your Sources

Study Tips

Learn how to reference your sources for assessments

At APC, we are very aware that for some of our students, studying with APC is their first time undertaking formal tertiary study.

That’s why we developed a complete orientation learning module with videos like the above, to help students understand how to research and answer assessments effectively.

Why and when do we reference?

For some assessments at APC, you will need to conduct research beyond the content of the student learner guide and reference the sources you use along with your answer. Referencing is extremely important, especially when using exact phrasing from somewhere else, or simply using a source to gather ideas for your response.

In this video, you’ll learn the standard way our APC students are expected to reference online and offline sources.

Adding a reference to an assessment

References should be included at the end of your assessment response, and we recommend you grab the source details as soon as you use it, so you don’t lose track of your sources!

When referencing online articles, record the article’s author or authors, the Year published in brackets, usually found at the top or bottom of the article, the title of the article or page, the Name of the Website, and the URL. (The URL is the page’s online address which you can find in the address bar at the top of your internet browser when viewing the page.)

An online source reference should look like this:

  • Author. (year published/last updated). Title of Article of Page. Website. URL.

If you’re referencing general website content, you can emit the article title And the author will simply be the person or organization responsible for the website.

For offline sources like textbooks, magazines and journal articles include the Author, the publishing year in brackets, the title of the document, the name of the publisher and the pages you used.

An offline source reference should look like this:

  • Author. (year published/last updated). Title of Book or Document. Publisher. Pages referenced.

Use reputable sources only

Be selection with the sources you use, like reputable websites from government or established institutions. Avoid websites like Wikipedia and articles without citations.

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