Creative Writing: Referencing Support

Further content around plagiarism is available from Cite them right online.

Referencing at UoG

Academic work requires you to read widely and to analyse the writings of others. This can add weight to your arguments. When using these works it is important that you acknowledge these sources of information.

Various referencing styles are in use at the university. In Creative Writing, both the Harvard and MHRA styles can be used. 

At undergraduate level, you are encouraged to use Harvard, but students who are also taking modules in English or who have previous experience with footnotes may use MHRA. Harvard is a generic term which is used in the UK to refer to author-date referencing styles, of which there are a number. The university uses the Cite Them Right version of Harvard.  

At postgraduate level, you are encouraged to use MHRA. Most other Humanities courses also use the MHRA style. 

MHRA is a style of referencing which uses footnotes and a bibliography to acknowledge the sources being used.  You can find MHRA guidance through Cite them Right or on the Library webpage. You may continue to use Harvard if it is your referencing style of choice.

Note: MHRA have just published a new edition of their guidance, so we are now using MHRA 4th edition.  A brief summary of the changes between editions can be found below.  MHRA 3rd edition will still be accepted for the first semester but we recommend that you start getting used to the 4th edition as soon as possible.

Why is referencing important?

Referencing correctly:

• demonstrates to your academics the breadth of your research

• gives supporting evidence for your ideas, arguments and opinions

• allows others to identify the sources you have used

• helps you avoid plagiarism by making it clear which ideas are your own and which are someone else's

• prepares you for industry, where you will need to abide by copyright law and intellectual property rights

How does Harvard referencing work?

There are two parts to Harvard referencing:

• The citation - an abbreviation of your reference in the text of your assignment that indicates the source of the idea or research that you are referring to. It usually includes the author(s) and year of publication and sometimes a page number. 

"good critical thinking skills can help us to make much more realistic and accurate appraisals of our own abilities" (Cottrell, 2023, p. 6)

• The reference - includes full details of the item you have cited and is included in an alphabetical list at the end of your assignment. This information enables those reading your work to easily find what you have cited.

Cottrell, S. (2023) Critical thinking skills. 4th edn. London: Bloomsbury.

How does MHRA referencing work?

MHRA referencing uses footnotes and a bibliography.

• The footnotes - You place a footnote number in the text to indicate that the idea or research you are referring to comes from another source.  Then at the bottom of your page in the footnote you insert a reference containing the full details of the source and where appropriate the page where you found the information. Note: all word processing programs will have a footnote function you can use.
  'good critical thinking skills can help us to make much more realistic and accurate appraisals of our own abilities'.<sup>1 
  
  1</sup> Stella Cottrell, Critical thinking skills, 4th edn. (London: Bloomsbury, 2023), p. 6.
   
• The bibliography - You list all your references in the bibliography, in alphabetical order of the first named author's surname.  So for the bibliography you reverse the first author's name:
  
  Cottrell, Stella, Critical thinking skills, 4th edn. (London: Bloomsbury, 2023).

Generative AI and the challenge of academic integrity

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are natural language chat bots trained to become familiar with patterns and structures from large data sets. The bots provide answers to questions by synthesising data to generate content.

If used appropriately, Generative AI does have the capacity to help students develop their understanding of subject matter or to become more critical learners. For example students could use it to:

• summarise their own notes or better structure their arguments
• synthesize a complex topic or set of issues into a more digestible format

Potential pitfalls 

Generative AI anonymises the original data sources and therefore provides no easy way for the user to assess their credibility, accuracy and bias, or indeed if the response generated has been correctly interpreted and synthesized appropriately. Using anonymised source material also creates an obvious attribution / referencing problem in an assessed or published piece of work, and increases the likelihood of plagiarism.

Advice

If you do use Generative AI make sure that you ask the right questions and carefully evaluate the answers. You will need to cross check any content generated.

Please refer to the University of Gloucestershire Guidance to students on the use of Generative AI in learning. 

See other sources

• How emerging artificial intelligence (AI) tools affect academic work 
• Use of artificial intelligence (AI) sources in academic work
• Student perceptions of generative AI a JISC report

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