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Reference Management

When you write an academic text, you must always cite and refer to your sources in a correct way. In this way you make evident for your reader which research you are using in addition to your own research material and your own thoughts. Hence, you show your reader that your work is not a plagiarism of work made by other researchers.

By referring to other scientific work you give credibility to your own ideas. Moreover, correct references make it easier for the reader to check your work or to go deeper into the subject you are currently writing about.

Referencing methods

There are several different methods for reference management and how to cite and create reference lists. Most common are Harvard and Oxford. Harvard is not a uniform method but there are several very similar variations with minor differences. Using this method, you put part of the reference within brackets directly in the running text. Harvard can be parted into the Author-Year-method and the Author-title-method.

One of the Harvard methods, APA, has been designed by the American Psychological Association – it is an Author-Year-method, but it differs from the others by being very strict.

In the Oxford method, figures are being inserted into the running text which in their turn refer to footnotes. In this method the format can also differ from one journal to another. The footnotes are placed together at the end of the page, at the end of the chapter, or at the end of the book.

More about references and reference management - on the website of the Lund University Library Guides

Reference management software

Reference management software helps you organise your references so that you insert them into your academic text and create a literature list as you write.

There are several programmes to choose between. Lund University offers the programmes EndNote and RefWorks. EndNote is available via Software Centre, but also in a web version accessible via Databases A-Z. This is also where you find RefWorks, which is completely web-based.

There is a library guide for both programmes. I the guide, you also get further information about some common reference systems. We provide you and your research group with fundamental education in EndNote in the form of a seminar. Please contact us to book an appointment!

EndNote and RefWorks - on the website of the Lund University Library Guides

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Page Manager: yens.wahlgren@lth.lu.se | 2020-12-15