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Library guide for Chemical Sciences

Why cite and reference your sources?

As you write your essays, it's important that you acknowledge the books, journal articles, and any other sources you consult in the course of your research. You do this to show your lecturers what you've read, and most importantly to respectfully nod to the work and ideas of other people; this is a matter of academic integrity. 

Failure to acknowledge your sources implies a) that you haven't done any background reading or research, and b) that all of the ideas you put forward are your own. If you consult sources and draw on the ideas of other people but don't acknowledge them, it's plagiarism. Always, always cite and reference your sources.

Plagiarism is a very serious offence and allegations of plagiarism may be referred to the Disciplinary Committee of the University. See DCU's academic integrity policy for more information.

Referencing Guide

The style guide we recommend for both Harvard and IEEE is Cite Them Right Online

Cite Them Right is accessed on and off campus via the A-Z Databases tab on Library Search. Providing the most up to date and accurate information, this is a really important resource for all your referencing needs. You can:

  1. create a reference for a wide range of source types
  2. build your reference on screen to make sure it is correct
  3. cut and paste the created reference into your assignment

 

CONTACT

 

Email: emma.stapleton@dcu.ie

O'Reilly Library, DCU Glasnevin

 

 

Want to know more about citing & referencing?

... And how to avoid plagiarism?

Try our LETScite etutorial


www.dcu.ie/library

We're here to help, see our list of citing and referencing supports below!