Referencing using APA/Resources/Summary

Summary

As a student, you will be expected to incorporate the ideas and words of other people in your writing. It is important to acknowledge this, both as a courtesy to the person whose work you are using, and to avoid the accusation of plagiarism. The APA system is one of several which have been designed to standardise how you reference the work of others in your writing. If at any time in your career as a health professional you write an article for publication, you will be expected to reference information you cite accurately.

It is therefore necessary that you have a good understanding of the principles of referencing. However, it is not expected that you know off by heart how to reference every different type of source: there are handouts and manuals that you can refer to.

Contributors

• Marc Doesburg, Otago Polytechnic, 2007
• David McQuillan, Otago Polytechnic, 2007