Citations serve a significant purpose in academic writing beyond preventing plagiarism. They are used to credit the work of other authors and sources in scholarly communication. The core purpose of this course is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the terms ‘citations’, ‘references’ and ‘bibliography’. We also explore various styles guides and explain the role of reference management systems in organising the sources used to create content.

How significant is documenting sources in scientific work? We will begin this course by explaining the rationale of such documentation before demonstrating the methods used to cite sources. We lay out the various categories of such sources of information and explain what you should and shouldn’t document. The course then compares the role of citations and references and explains how to include them in your bibliographies.

We then establish the importance of style guides or manuals in research and show you how to use them to make sure your work meets the expected standard. The course discusses various reference management systems and explains how to use them to organise your references, which can be daunting in long documents. Finally, we investigate various commercial and free reference management systems that can make your life easier. This academic writing course is designed to help scholars, students and researchers source their work properly and avoid accusations of plagiarism. These skills are crucial to anyone writing non-fiction and can make the difference between success and failure in schools, universities and the world of publishing.