Abstract
Academic or bibliographic referencing is a convention used in academic work that allows you to make it clear when you are reporting on what you have learnt from multiple. It first, involves the sources of the ideas you were referring to during in body of your essay or dissertation at the time you mention them and then providing a full list of all the references or sources, at the end of your work. There are several reasons for referring to your sources. First, it is a long-standing academic practice that must be followed. It is not optional. Work that fails to reference academic sources will be awarded a fail grade for not having referenced appropriately or more commonly will be assumed to be plagiarized. If you are deemed to have plagiarized your work, you will be penalized. In the worst case scenario, you might be dismissed from your course and the University. Second, it allows you to demonstrate that you have consulted a range of authors and ideas in preparing your work. It is expected that you will conduct such reading of experts' views as an integral part of your academic training. And third, it allows you to demonstrate the difference between your ideas and those of the other experts in the field. By reporting on what other scholars have written and then comparing and evaluating their ideas against each other, you demonstrate the critical analysis which is a key skill required for you to complete your degree programme.
