Referencing - how to reference

Referencing In academic writing, it's essential that you cite (state) your sources of information and ideas. To ensure readers know where you found the information you must include references.

Visit our referencing tutorial for more information about why you must reference.

In the library there are many different ways we support students with referencing:

Harvard referencing factsheets

Download and print these guides - you'll also find copies in the library:

Referencing: The Harvard Way

Referencing: Law Resources (Harvard)

Law students should visit the legal referencing page for referencing resources.

Psychology students should refer to their thinking and writing guide.

Online guide to referencing

Visit succeed@solent's referencing for Harvard and APA guidance.

Examples of Harvard referencing

Play our Harvard referencing game

Reference management software: RefWorks

Online software is available to store, manage and utilise your references.

The library supports RefWorks which can generate your in-text references and final reference lists in our Harvard Solent style. It integrates with Word, has a "Save to RefWorks" tool and provides lots of other features including saving the full text of some documents. It can also generate lists in many other styles including APA and OSCOLA.

Other free products are available but these do not contain our institutional style.

Support for referencing

If the above resources do not answer your query, further support for complex referencing issues is available from referencing.support@solent.ac.uk or via our drop-in sessions, below.

Queries will be dealt with as quickly as possible but please allow up to 72 hours for a response from the Information team. If your query is not easily dealt with via email we will offer you an appointment to speak to a librarian for advice. Please note that this service does not include proof reading or checking of references. If your query is urgent please use the chat service on the library homepage for initial advice.

You can also attend our weekly drop-in sessions between January and April.