DNA Tips & Tricks #3

Quick Referencing Guide

Official Manual – Public

First released 14.12.2021

Last updated 08.12.2022

 

1.   Statement of Purposes

This Quick Referencing Guide is developed to help student quickly know how referencing should be done properly with minimum time and efforts. The Quick Guide covers most common referencing styles, and categories (not all) – which we believe are sufficient to meet most international university standards. If you find the required referencing style you are looking for, or the reference category of a specific reference is not mentioned here, please consider this Website or specific official guidelines to do correct reference, yet Section 2. Sources of information might still be useful for you.

 

In order to use this Quick Guide effectively, reader in the first attempt should read Section 1, 2, and 3.1.

Sections 3.2 onward offers details of specific reference style, therefore, only look at the specific part when you need it.

 

2.   Sources of Information and Usages

2.1.         Academic Sources – Journals / Articles, Academic Researches, Peer Reviews

1. Description

Academic sources (or Academic references) are considered to be high quality and trustworthy sources of information (Academic Journals / Articles, Academic Researches, Peer Reviews, Academic books, and so on), and normally appreciated greatly in academic writings.

 

1. Where to find
2. Google Scholar (Free) – https://scholar.google.com/
   • Pros: Quick and free
   • Cons: Limited databases, limited access to articles
3. University databases
   • Pros: Greater databases, full access to articles
   • Cons: Load a bit slower, and limited accessibility (offered exclusively by some universities)

 

1. How to use

Maximize the use of academic sources in academic writing would benefit your writing significantly and save you a lot of brainstorm time. The following tables are made to help you implement academic sources in your writing effectively, they cover the most common and effective uses (according to our observation), but not everything.

 

PURPOSES	EXAMPLES
Support academic terms’ explanations, theories	Writing & In-text Citation	Strategy is the integrated set of commitments and actions that is designed by one firm to cultivate their core competencies and generate competitive advantages, which are argued as the key drivers of superior performance (Porter 1985)
	Reference (RMIT Harvard style)	Porter, ME (1985), Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, Free Press, New York.
Support conclusions, statements from specific information	Writing & In-text Citation	Mobbs et al. (2021) indicate that animal behavioural neuroscience has been significantly influenced and changed by computational ethology.
	Reference (RMIT Harvard)	Mobbs D, Wise T, Suthana N, Guzmán N, Kriegeskorte N and Leibo JZ (2021) ‘Promises and challenges of human computational ethology’, Neuron, 109(14):2224-2238, doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2021.05.021.
Get ideas to build models, establish indicators, measurements; or identify relevant / significant variables to a topic to develop further	Writing & In-text Citation	Innovation and learning aspect concerns the  information system capabilities and the capabilities, motivation, empowerment and alignment of employees (Chavan, 2009)
	Reference (Harvard style)	Chavan, M (2009), ‘The balanced scorecard: a new challenge’, Journal of Management Development, vol. 28, no. 5, pp.393-406.

 

Notes: The Bold effect was added intentionally to these examples to make it easier for reader to recognize (i) in-text citation locations and the connection with reference, and (ii) the key contents taken to support the main purposes. In official academic writing, in-text citations should be formatted as normal writing without adding special effects.

 

2.2.         Digital Sources (anything with a link) – News, Articles, Websites

1. Description

Official referencing guideline would have greater detailed for each of the listed sources of information and they are referenced slightly differently. However, in order to simplify the referencing progress, after carefully considering variations, we came to conclusion that digital sources (anything you researched online and has an URL to present the source of information, but not regarded as academic references) can be referenced quite similarly (accepting that this technique would not present the perfect referencing, in return it saves a lot of time and usually meet above average standards). If you want to be perfect with your referencing skills, please consider official reference guidelines, many of them can be found here or in the university databases.

 

1. Where to find

No.	Main sources	Examples	Expected data / information
1	Search engines	Google, Yahoo,	Diverse & General information, trending, up-to-date data / info
2	Newspapers, Digital Articles, Magazines,	New York Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, CaféF	General information, trending, up-to-date data / info (high level of reliability)
3	Specialized databases	World Bank, Trading Economics, Vietstock, Euromonitor	Specific data, figures, or numbers for specific subjects / topics

 

 

1. How to use

Digital sources normally used to back information about a specific period of time due to its temporality and timeliness characteristics. The more detailed and higher reliable sources, the better the results. However, digital sources should NOT be used to back theories, concepts, models, or statements as these outputs should be backed by Academic Sources.

 

Purposes	Examples
Provide evidence to support a statement	Writing & In-text Citation	One policy that the Vietnamese government can consider is to increase public investment, specifically fiscal packages to the country’s small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). According to World Bank Group, the provision of fiscal packages to SMEs in response to COVID-19 by the government was insufficient, of which proportion in GDP was only 2.5% in 2020 compared to 4.5% in 2019 (The World Bank Group 2022).
	Reference (RMIT Harvard style)	The World Bank Group (2022), No Time To Waste The challenges and opportunities of cleaner trade for Vietnam, The World Bank Group, viewed 16 March 2022. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en /185721641998618600/pdf/No-Time-to-Waste-The-Challenges-and-Opportunities-of-Cleaner-Trade-for-Vietnam.pdf.
Provide evidence for timely issues/events	Writing & In-text Citation	Baird (2016) points out that recent studies have found much of our nursing population is approaching retirement – and quite alarmingly burnt out – at precisely the time the nursing needs of a broader ageing population is increasing” (Baird, 2016, para. 8).
	Reference (APA 7th)	Baird, J. (2016, November 4). There’s no such thing as ‘just a nurse’. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/why-we-need-to-listen-to-nurses-when-talking-about-health-20161103-gshfq1.html

 

Notes: The Bold effect was added intentionally to these examples to make it easier for reader to emphasize (i) in-text citation locations and the connection with reference, and (ii) the key contents taken to support the main purposes. In official academic writing, in-text citations should be format as normal writing without adding special effects.

3.   How to do reference correctly and quickly

3.1.         General Notes

 

Please read them before you get into the detailed manual

 

1. Symbols and text effects
   1. Pay close attention to every symbols (“,” ; “.” ; “ ‘ “ , “( )“ ) as it will be the details that differentiate each reference styles
   2. Incline effects are compulsory for some reference styles
   3. Bold effects in this document are added intentionally to highlight important information, it must not be used for in-text citations, and reference.
   4. The background color effects are added intentionally to these examples to make it easier for reader to make it easier for reader to visualize the connection between rule and example. In official academic writing, in-text citations should be format as normal writing without adding special effects.
2. In-text citation only has Family name, while reference will require an additional “Last name Initial”

• The rule regarding number of authors will be similar and consistent between different Referencing styles, therefore, it will only be mentioned once at 3.1.a. Harvard and will not be repeated in other sections to simplify the overall structure of this guide.
  1. 1 – 2 authors => All author surname in in-text citations

Example in-text citation in APA: (Fiorineschi and Rotini, 2021)

Example in-text citation in RMIT Harvard: (Fiorineschi and Rotini 2021)

1. 3 – more authors => First / main author’s surname in in-text citations + “et al.”.

Example in-text citation in Harvard Style: (Mobbs et al., 2021)

3. The rule regarding missing author name and date of issue will be similar and consistent between different Referencing styles, therefore, it will only be mentioned once at 3.1.a. Harvard and will not be repeated in following sections
4. Always add reference immediately after you cite them to avoid missing references

 

 

3.2.         Harvard Reference & Other Variations

There are various Harvard reference style variations, in short, it can be broken down to original Harvard (called “Harvard”) and modified Harvard (normally named with institution name and “Harvard”, for example, “RMIT Harvard”, or “NTU Harvard”). They are slightly different, one modification of Harvard reference (RMIT Harvard) will be mentioned in this document in section 3.2.b. RMIT Harvard.

 

a.      Harvard (Original)

 

Source of info	Categories		Examples
	1 author	Rule	In-text citation: (Author’s family name, Year of issue)   Reference Author’s family name, Initial. (Year) ‘Title of article: subtitle of article’. Name of Journal, volume(issue), pp.start page-end page, doi:number [if available].
		Example	In-text citation: (Papadopoulou, 2020)   Reference Papadopoulou, M. (2020) ‘Supporting the development of early years students’ professional identities through an action research programme’. Educational Action Research, 28(4), pp.686-699, doi:10.1080/09650792.2019.1652196.
	2 authors	Rule	Author’s family name Initial and Author’s family name Initial (Year) ‘Title of article: subtitle of article’. Name of Journal, volume(issue), pp.start page-end page, doi:number [if available].
		Example	In-text citation: (Fiorineschi and Rotini, 2021)   Reference Fiorineschi, L. and Rotini, F. (2021) ‘Novelty metrics in engineering design’. Journal of Engineering Design, 32(11), pp.590-620, doi:10.1080/09544828.2021.1928024.
	3 or more authors	Rule	Author’s family name, Initial., Author’s family name, Initial. and Author’s family name, Initial. (Year) ‘Title of article: subtitle of article’. Name of Journal, volume(issue), pp.start page-end page, doi:number [if available].
		Example	In-text citation: (Mobbs et al., 2021)   Reference Mobbs, D., Wise, T., Suthana, N., Guzmán, N., Kriegeskorte, N. and Leibo, J. Z. (2021) ‘Promises and challenges of human computational ethology’, Neuron, 109(14), pp.2224-2238, doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2021.05.021.

 

 

 

Source of info	Categories	Notes	Examples
		Rule	In-text citation: (Author’s family name, Year of issue)   Reference Author’s family name Initial. (Year). ‘Title of article: subtitle of article’. [type of medium] Name of Website, Available at : <URL>. [Accessed Day Month Year].
	1 author, all information available (for 2 or more authors, consider the table above)	A complete reference that contains every necessary info	In-text citation: (Heath, 2021)   Reference Heath, N. (2021). ‘What is AI? Here’s everything you need to know about artificial intelligence‘. [online] ZDNet, Available at : <https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-ai-heres-everything-you-need-to-know-about-artificial-intelligence/>. Accessed 9 December 2021.
	No author name available	Use website name or organization name as author name	In-text citation: (WHO, 2021)   Reference WHO (2021). ‘WHO accelerates work on nutrition targets with new commitments. [online] ‘, WHO website, Available at : <https://www.who.int/news/item/07-12-2021-who-accelerates-work-on-nutrition-targets-with-new-commitments>. Accessed 9 December 2021.
	No date of issue available	Use “n.d” to replace the date of issue	In-text citation: (WHO, n.d)   Reference WHO (n.d). WHO accelerates work on nutrition targets with new commitments. [online], WHO website, Available at: <https://www.who.int/news/item/07-12-2021-who-accelerates-work-on-nutrition-targets-with-new-commitments>. Accessed 9 December 2021.

 

 

b.     RMIT Harvard

A variation of Harvard Reference Style, which was developed by RMIT University. This variation is commonly regarded in RMIT University’s learning materials, assessment requirements, and university’s documents.

 

Source of info	Categories		Examples
	1 author (for 2 or more authors, check 3.1.a. Harvard for reference)	Rule	In-text citation: (Author’s family name Year of issue)   Reference Author’s family name Initial (Year) ‘Title of article: subtitle of article’, Name of Journal, volume(issue):start page-end page, doi:number [if available].
		Example	In-text citation: (Papadopoulou 2020)   Reference Papadopoulou M (2020) ‘Supporting the development of early years students’ professional identities through an action research programme’, Educational Action Research, 28(4):686-699, doi:10.1080/09650792.2019.1652196.
	1 author, all information available (for 2 or more authors, missing author name, missing date of issue – check 3.1.a. Harvard for reference)	Rule	Author’s family name Initial (Year) ‘Title of webpage’, Name of Website, accessed Day Month Year. URL
		A complete reference that contains every necessary info	In-text citation: (Heath 2021)   Reference Heath N (2021) What is AI? Here’s everything you need to know about artificial intelligence, ZDNet, accessed 9 December 2021. https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-ai-heres-everything-you-need-to-know-about-artificial-intelligence/

 

 

 

3.3.         APA 7^th

Source of info	Categories		Examples
	1 author (for 2 or more authors, check 3.1.a. Harvard for reference)	Rule	In-text citation: (Author’s family name, Year)   Reference Author’s family name Initial. (Year). ‘Title of article: subtitle of article’, Name of Journal, volume(issue), start page-end page. doi:number [if available]
		Example	In-text citation: (Papadopoulou, 2020)   Reference Papadopoulou, M. (2020). Supporting the development of early years students’ professional identities through an action research programme, Educational Action Research, 28(4), 686-699. doi:10.1080/09650792.2019.1652196
	1 author, all information available (for 2 or more authors, missing author name, missing date of issue – check 3.1.a. Harvard for reference)	Rule	In-text citation: (Author’s family name, Year)   Reference Author’s family name, Initial. (Year). ‘Title of webpage’’. Name of Website. URL
		Example	In-text citation: (Heath, 2021)   Reference Heath, N. (2021). ‘What is AI? Here’s everything you need to know about artificial intelligence’. ZDNet. https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-ai-heres-everything-you-need-to-know-about-artificial-intelligence/

 

 

 

3.4.         AGLC4

AGLC4 (or Footnotes) Reference is mostly used in legislative / law papers.

In order to implement this reference style, assure yourself to be equipped with the following things

1. Knowledge: Know how to do AGLC4 reference, by accessing this link
2. Technical set up: Setting up the Word office / Google Docs to apply Footnotes, instructions below
   1. For MS Word Office
   2. For Google Docs

 

 

 

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