The essentials...

Presentation and accurate referencing is an essential part of the historian's craft. An essay that is well written and properly referenced will convey your message efficiently and be more persuasive. Many different formatting conventions are used in scholarly publications and this can be confusing. What we recommend is the best current practice. If you are unsure about any of these guidelines, please ask your essay tutors for clarification.

Why reference?

From reading academic articles and books, you should be familiar with the scholarly practice of making referrences in the text to other people's work and providing listings of relevant source material at the end of the text.

Why is this done?

• To enable someone reading the document to find the material you have referenced to or consulted
• To demonstrate your width of reading and knowledge about a subject
• To support and/or develop points made in the text
• To avoid accusations of plagiarism: using somebody else's work without acknowledging the fact
• Because you may be required to do so by your department

Academic Referencing

The History department recommends that students use the Harvard referencing system. Alternatives may be used by prior agreement with the module tutor. More information can be found on the Library website and in their Harvard referencing guide. Please also refer to the PG style guide.