Referencing

West Coast Institute of Training uses the American Psychological Association (APA) method of referencing sources for assignments. A Referencing Guide can be purchased from the Bookshop, or you can access the ECU Referencing Guide online.

Referencing – a quick guide
Almost all your written work will require varying degrees of research to help you explain an idea, develop an argument, support statements or emphasise a point. It is vital that you give the necessary recognition to the original authors and sources of your information and acknowledge the fact that the research is not yours. Not acknowledging your sources of information is plagiarism, which is a serious academic offence and may result in you being asked to re-submit your assignment or, in serious cases, failing the unit.

In-text referencing
The following examples show different ways of using the APA method of referencing. Particular attention should be paid to punctuation when using this method. For more details, see the Reference Guide.

Chapter of a Book (Windschuttle & Elliot, 1994, chap. 1)	Book or Journal Article (McArthur, 2004)
Pages of a Book (White, 2002, pp. 10-14)	Internet Site (http://www.uvm.edu)
Videorecording (“Diversity and communication”, 1996)

End text referencing
The titles of books and newspapers should be italicised. The title of a journal article is not italicised, but the name of the journal is.

The recommended format for setting out full end-text referencing is the author date system, which uses a capital letter for the first word of a book title, followed by lower case for all other words. Note: If the author of an item is also the publisher, you don’t need to repeat the details. Look carefully at the following examples for illustration of this method.

Books - One Author
White, L. (2002). Write a winning job application: A guide to responding to selection criteria. (3rd ed.). City Beach, WA: Author.

Books - Multiple Authors
Galvin, M., Prescott, D., & Huseman, R. (1992). Business communication. (4th ed.). Sydney: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Mroczkowski, N.A., Yates, L. & Fleay, D. (1995). TAFE accounting. (6th ed.). Melbourne: Thomas Nelson.
Windschuttle, K. & Elliot, E. (1994). Writing, researching, communicating. (2nd ed.). Sydney: McGraw Hill.
Note You only have to include the edition for second and subsequent editions of a book.

Journal Article
McArthur, I. (2004). Global weave: Teaching cross-cultural collaboration. Desk Top, 197, 30-31.
Note In a journal article, you only include the page numbers; you do not include an
abbreviation for page or pages.

No Date
McNamara, W. (n.d.). The band. Perth: World First Books.

Newspaper Article
Tay, J. (2004, October 22). Dark side of the fake trade. The Australian, p. 14.
Pill cleared of link to cancer, heart attacks (2004, October 22). The West Australian, p. 8.

Encyclopaedia Article
Robinson, A. (1994). The principals of genetics and heredity. In The new encyclopedia Britannica (Vol. 19, pp. 699-740). Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica.

Videorecording / DVD
A video or DVD often doesn’t have an author in the usual sense of the word, so the title is then used. The end-text reference also includes a description of the medium. For example:

Ogilvie, A. (Producer) & di Chiera, F. (Director). (1997). No milk, no honey [Video]. Linfield, NSW: Film Australia.
Diversity and communication [Video]. (1996). Barrington, Ill.: Magna Systems.

Computer Software / CD-ROM
Bringing them home: A human rights education resource developed by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. [CD-ROM]. (2003). Sydney: The Commission.

Publications on Internet Site
Department of Environment (2003). Review of Government’s response to the 1998 State of the Environment report. Retrieved November 1, 2004 from http://www.epa.wa.gov.au/docs/1867_SOE_TechnicalReport_1.pdf

On-Line Database
Mackerras, D., Levy, J Shaw, J. & Zimmet, P. (2004). Comparison of fruit and vegetable frequency data from two Australian national surveys. Nutrition & Dietetics: The Journal of the Dieticians Association of Australia, 61 (2), 88-98. Retrieved 1 November 2004 from http://web2.infotrac-custom.com/pdfserve/get_item/1/S306604w7_4/SB844_04.pdf