For most subjects you will be told which referencing style to use - check the subject guide or ask the teaching staff. Depending on the style you are using, there are two ways to acknowledge sources within your writing:
- In-text citations - the author and the date are mentioned within the text
- At La Trobe APA and Harvard referencing styles use in-text citations
- Footnotes - small numbers in the text correspond to numbers at the bottom (or foot) of the page
- At La Trobe AGLC and Oxford referencing styles use footnotes
If you are using in-text citations there are two ways you can include the author's surname and the year:
- Put them in brackets at the end a sentence like this (Malik, 2020).
- Or you can choose to mention Malik (2020) as the author within your text. In that case include the year directly after the author's name.
Whatever style you use you will have a reference list at the end of your document that includes detailed information for all the sources that you used in your writing.
Academic Referencing Tool
La Trobe Library's Academic Referencing Tool is your key to referencing success. Follow the links to see examples and explanations for referencing a wide variety of sources.
This video introduces you to the Academic Referencing Tool. (Duration: 2:03)