Reference Management
When writing an academic text, you must cite and reference your sources correctly. In this way, you show the reader what research you use in addition to your own research material. Referencing makes your own thoughts visible and makes it clear that your work does not plagiarize other researchers' work.
By referencing other scientific works, you give credibility to your own ideas. The references also make it easier for the reader to check your work or delve deeper into the subject you are writing about.
There are several different styles you can use for referencing, citing and creating bibliographies. The most common styles are Harvard and Oxford. Harvard is not a uniform style, but there are several similar variants with small differences. In this style, you include parts of the reference in brackets directly in the text. Harvard can be divided into Author-Year Style and Author-Title Style. The references are then collected in a bibliography at the end of the article or at the end of the book.
One of the Harvard styles, APA, was designed by the American Psychological Association and is an Author-Year Style. It differs from the others by being very strict in its design.
In the Oxford style, numbers are used in the running text, which in turn refer to a footnote. The formatting may differ between journals since the journals can have different and unique versions. The footnotes are then collected at the end of the page, at the end of the chapter or at the end of the book.
There are guides for the different reference styles that you can find online. These are open to everyone and clearly shows how to create references in the reference style of your choice. You find a few such guides here.
Reference guides:
Reference guide for APA 7 at the University Library at Karolinska Institutet
Reference guide for Vancouver at the University Library at Karolinska Institutet
Reference guide for Oxford at the University Library in Umeå
A reference management program helps you organize your references by inserting them into your scientific text and creating a bibliography as you write.
There are several reference management programs to choose from. Lund University offers you the program EndNote. For employees, EndNote is available via the Software Center and for students, the program can be downloaded via the LTH Student Web.
Download EndNote as a student via the LU Student Web
There is an online course in EndNote that step by step takes you through the most important functions. The guide also provides additional information on some common reference styles.
Online course in EndNote in Canvas
Another reference management program is Zotero. You do not need a LUCAT ID or student account to download it, since it is open to everyone.
If you want support in reference management, please contact bib@lth.lu.se. This is regardless of if you want individual support or if you want to book a workshop for a research group.
