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Referencing styles - a Practical Guide

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Referencing styles: a Practical Guide

Referencing is a key aspect of academic writing which enables you to identify information and ideas in your writing that come from source materials. It's essential to acknowledge other people's ideas in this way so that you can avoid plagiarism.

This practical guide contains advice and examples to help you use your department's referencing style correctly. If you're new to referencing or need a refresher, we suggest that you start by reading the general guidance about referencing before exploring your department's style in more detail.


What is referencing?


Start here for an overview of the good practice principles of referencing

Referencing styles


Use the tabs at the top of the page to learn the referencing style used in your department. See the list below if you're not sure which style your department requires

Referencing AI


Advice on how to acknowledge and reference the use of generative AI in your work

Reference management


When you feel confident with referencing, explore how reference management software can help to organise and cite your sources


Using the referencing style guides

To make best use of this guide, you will need to know the referencing style which is used in your department. This might be specified in your course materials, or you can use the list below to check. Find the relevant guide for your referencing style using the links at the top of this page.

In each guide you'll find information to help you cite and reference sources correctly, including:

  • common questions about using the referencing style
  • examples of citations and references for different source types
  • other useful resources

We recommend that you bookmark your guide in your browser so that you can easily access it whenever you need it.

Referencing styles by department

  • Archaeology: Harvard
  • Architecture: Harvard
  • Biology: Harvard and Vancouver (most taught module assessments require Harvard, please check departmental guidelines)
  • Business and Society: Harvard
  • Chemistry: Royal Society of Chemistry (check department guidelines for styles to use for project work)
  • Computer Science: IEEE
  • Economics and Related Studies: Harvard
  • Education: APA
  • Electronic Engineering: IEEE
  • English and Related Literature: Chicago and MLA
  • Environment: Harvard
  • Health Sciences: Harvard
  • History: Chicago
  • History of Art: Chicago
  • HYMS: Harvard and Vancouver
  • International Pathway College: Harvard
  • Language and Linguistic Science: APA
  • Law: OSCOLA
  • Management: Harvard
  • Mathematics: AMS/LMS, check departmental guidelines
  • Music: Chicago (please note music references should use single quotation marks instead of double)
  • Philosophy: Harvard and MLA
  • Physics: Vancouver, see for example Institute of Physics Journal of Physics G
  • Politics: Harvard
  • Psychology: APA
  • Social Policy and Social Work: Harvard
  • Sociology: Harvard
  • Theatre, Film, Television and Interactive Media: MHRA and Harvard

Using source information in your writing

Using source information effectively isn't just about accurate citing and referencing (although that is a necessity!), it's also about selecting relevant evidence and integrating it into your argument. Find out more in our dedicated guide:

Information on this guide

We’ve made every effort to ensure that our referencing help and guidance are correct. Sometimes small errors occur and we will rectify them as soon as they are identified. If you have any questions about the content of this guide, please contact your Faculty Librarians.