Citing references correctly makes it easier for others to find the material you have used and also for you to retrace your steps and find it again. That's why it's important that your references are complete and consistent.
If you always cite your sources, it will enable your readers to identify your thoughts and conclusions and so minimise the risk of your being accused of plagiarism.
Plagiarism can be quoting and referring to other people's work without citing the source. It can also be copying other people's texts word for word without quotation marks or re-using your own texts without acknowledging the fact.
Uppsala University uses the database service provider Urkund to prevent and reveal plagiarism. Plagiarism is always reported to the University disciplinary council.
You can save time by documenting how and where you've searched. Write up what you've done and remember to save the details of the references to books and articles you've found. We recommend that you use reference management software to help you keep track of your references, especially when you have a lot of them.
Reference systems
Reference systems are quite simply standard styles for citing references, for example to books or articles, and presenting them in a list or referring to source information in a text. The two most well-known systems for listing sources and further reading lists are called Harvard and Oxford.
The system you choose to use for quotations, source references and reading lists varies according to context and subject. Ask your tutor or supervisor which system you should be using.
The Harvard system
Examples of monographs, chapters in a book and articles in journals or newspapers:
Monograph
Eriksson Lundström, Jenny (2009) On the formal modeling of games of language and adversarial argumentation : a logic-based artificial intelligence approach. Uppsala: Uppsala University
Chapter in a book
Andersson Raeder, Johanna (2009). Turning genealogy into statistics : remarriage among noble women in medieval Sweden. Methods and the medievalist : current approaches in medieval studies, p. 159-176
Article in a journal or newspaper
Hemmungs Wirtén, Eva (2000). Desperately seeking Spivak: litteraturvetenskapens subjekt och objekt. Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap. 2000 (29:3/4), p. 13-20
Referencex to sources
References to sources (notes) are given by writing author (or equivalent), year and page numbers in brackets in the text itself. The full reference is given in the list of references.
Example: ... has been reviewed (Hemmungs Wirtén, 2008, p. 56) and ...
The Oxford system
Examples of monographs, chapters in a book and articles in journals or newspapers:
Monograph
Eriksson Lundström, Jenny, On the formal modeling of games of language and adversarial argumentation : a logic-based artificial intelligence approach. Uppsala University, Uppsala, 2009
Chapter in a book
Andersson Raeder, Johanna . 'Turning genealogy into statistics : remarriage among noble women in medieval Sweden' in Methods and the medievalist : current approaches in medieval studies, 2009, p. 159-176
Article in a journal or newspaper
Hemmungs Wirtén, Eva, 'Desperately seeking Spivak: litteraturvetenskapens subjekt och objekt'. Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap, 2000 (29:3/4), p. 13-20
References to sources
References to sources (notes) are given in the text with a superscript number after a word or at the end of a sentence. If you have more than 99 references you should use a new sequence of numbers for each chapter.
Example: ... has been reviewed¹ and...
The reference is given at the foot of the page, but they are also given in a list at the end of the text or book:
Example: ¹Jenny Eriksson Lundström, On the formal modeling of games of language and adversarial argumentation : a logic-based artificial intelligence approach. Uppsala University, Uppsala, 2009, p. 56.
More help
LIBRIS has a function called CITE to help you with references. Using this you can copy and paste bibliographic details into your own reference list. You can choose between the Harvard and the Oxford systems.
