Referencing and Citing, and using Harvard Referencing including a guide to other systems and styles of referencing
Finding Sources - about primary, secondary and tertiary sources and an introduction to analysing your sources, including the CRAAP test!

Referencing and Citing, with more on Harvard Referencing

Our brief introduction to basics of referencing and plagiarism is linked here.

Referencing your work should be considered throughout the process of carrying out the work. Rather than creating a piece of work, and then adding citations after, it is better practice to reference as you work.

During your research, it might make sense to take notes on a particular paper/article one by one. As you develop your research, you should be able to identify key points and links/contradictions between the literature. This way, you won't lose track of which paper said what, and have a clear idea of what you want to write about from your research.

During your write-up, it makes sense to cite as you go. Every time you write something that needs backing up, could be disputed, or you don't deem common knowledge for your audience, you should cite it immediately after writing it. You can cite multiple sources at once.

At NMITE we use Harvard Referencing, so the citation should typically use the format: (Author, Year). Occasionally it will be preferable to use a 'narrative citation'. A video explainer for this is linked here and in the resources.

Why and how to cite and reference?

The aim of referencing is to provide as much information as is needed to be able to find the source again at any time in the future. A weblink only is NOT good enough: the Internet changes continually so a weblink can be broken very easily. As with any referencing, the Harvard system requires you to provide information such that if needed you could go to a major library or repository, e.g. the British Library, and find a copy of the original source. The British Library and other similar libraries around the world, holds extensive copies of:

books, textbooks, journals, newspapers and magazines, in fact all publications with an ISBN number published in the UK
images and photographs (see Images or photographs - Harvard Style Guide - LibGuides at UCD Library for how to cite an image or photograph)
sounds and recording (check the link given

But sources you might want to refer to can also include:

personal letters,
websites (of course) and blogs,
film, TV or radio show, podcasts, YouTube videos etc.

All of these can be used a references and cited: see a list here: FREE Harvard Referencing Generator | Cite This For Me

There are other standards for referencing, e.g. the IEEE Standard uses numbering and lists the references out in order in which they appeared in the main text. This standard is concise and often preferred for short conference papers. For more on different styles, check this out: Different styles & systems of referencing by University of Reading

Why do we prefer Harvard? Because it is much easier to use in long reports: you do not have to keep tabs on the order in which references in which they appeared, and by having the author name and year in the text, you are less likely to make an error in your citation. See Parenthetical referencing - Wikipedia for more on this.

Resources

Using Mendeley Software to Cite While you Write | Bree Bio

Difference Between Narrative and Parenthetical Citations | Smart Student - Useful from 2.45-5.14.

Harvard Referencing is an example of Parenthetical referencing - Wikipedia

Introduction - Harvard Style Guide - LibGuides at UCD Library

FREE Harvard Referencing Generator | Cite This For Me

Different styles & systems of referencing - Citing references - LibGuides at University of Reading

Finding Sources

If you are looking for a non-academic source, finding sources can simply involve google searching, or looking through a library. A tutorial on how to use advanced search operators in Google is linked here and in the resources.

For academic sources, it is best practice to use an academic search engine, such as these listed below:

Google Scholar
Microsoft Academic
BASE
Semantic Scholar

Some direct links can be found in the Study&Professional - Information Space

You should use academic sources first, but in the case of engineering and industry, you will often need to refer to information from companies, rapidly changing news items from industry bodies or newspapers/pamphlets and so on.

Primary and secondary sources of information

Your aim will be to find a reliable source of information. So given the choice between a published textbook used in many schools and universities and the revision notes given to you by another student, you will choose to refer to the textbook. Unless of course the other student's notes provides some well-argued brand new information...

You will also consider the whether the source is tertiary, secondary or primary. For example,

a Wikipedia or reference book entry on Einstein's theory of relativity would be a tertiary source
a book or journal that refers to the work carried out by Einstein and his publications would be secondary sources
the papers and letters that Einstein himself authored - these are primary sources.

You should try to refer to primary and secondary sources. However, tertiary sources are very good to get your research started: use the collective (but sometimes unreliable) wisdom of Wikipedia and introductions to your topic to find better sources of information.

Finally, think about how you are using your references. Below is a great resource on the concept of SOCC: Source, Observe, Contextualise and Corroborate.

Another very useful tool is the CRAAP checklist:

Currency: Is it up-to-date?
Relevance: Is the paper or book relevant to the topic you are writing about?
Authority: Where is it published? Are the authors considered to be reputable and trustworthy in the subject area?
Accuracy: Is the argument supported by evidence? Are the citations correct?
Purpose: What was the reason for publishing this paper or book?

Resources

How to Google with Advanced Search Operators (9 Actionable Tips) | Ahrefs

How to Research Any Topic | Lady of the Library

Finding Literature for a Literature Review | Smart Student - Useful from 04.00-09.00.

Use Google Scholar for Academic Research | Smart Student

Tertiary Sources Explained | Quick Guide & Examples (scribbr.com)

SOCC it! Primary Source Analysis with my Students | Cate Denial

More on the CRAAP test and more on evaluating sources here: Evaluating sources of information | Manchester Metropolitan University (mmu.ac.uk)