Referencing advice: all you need to know in one place

It is important to reference correctly in all work that you submit as part of your studies here at Cambridge. If your assignments, projects and other pieces of work you submit are not referenced properly you will have committed plagiarism.

Every year some CJBS students are unaware that they have plagiarised in their academic work, others are more aware and are perhaps hoping they won’t get caught. Whether this is unintentional or intentional plagiarism the consequences can be very serious and investigations do take place. The University of Cambridge has a clear statement on plagiarism and you are expected to follow these rules during your period of study here.

University statement on academic misconduct and plagiarism

Cambridge defines academic misconduct as: ‘… gaining or attempting to gain, or helping others to gain or attempt to gain, an unfair academic advantage in formal University assessment, or any activity likely to undermine the integrity essential to scholarship and research. It includes being in possession of unauthorised materials or electronic devices during an examination, including recording or communication devices or devices that can store data, even where the Registered Student is unaware that such materials or devices are unauthorised, has no intention of using them, or is unaware that they have them in their possession. Read the full University statement on plagiarism. This statement includes 6 main types of plagiarism which it is your personal responsibility to understand and avoid.

Using AI

Generative AI is changing the information landscape at a rapid pace. The University’s guidance on how AI can be used in assignments is evolving, albeit more slowly.

The University guidance states: “A student using any unacknowledged content generated by artificial intelligence within a summative assessment as though it is their own work constitutes academic misconduct, unless explicitly stated otherwise in the assessment brief.”

The Blended Learning Service has guidance for students and staff, including how AI can be used within the rules of the University.

Referencing – get it right first time

There are many methods people use to manage referencing. Below we suggest some tools and tips that we find can help. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what tool or method you use, the most important thing is that the references are accurate.

Top tip: Start thinking about this right at the beginning of your research and ensure you have a plan so that it is clear in your notes when you come to write up which parts of your assignment you will need to reference.

Zotero and the Harvard Referencing Style

Here at Cambridge Judge we recommend you use Zotero to manage your references as you research.

• Download Zotero
• Download a “Getting started on Zotero” guide
• The Harvard citation style. We recommend CJBS students to use the Harvard style provided by Cite Them Right (see more below). To install it:
  • In Zotero, go to Edit > Settings, and from the Cite tab, go to Get additional styles…
  • Type in Cite to the search box and select “Cite Them Right 12th edition – Harvard” (DO NOT select (no “et al.”))
  • From within your word processing software, choose ‘Document Preferences’ from the Zotero ribbon and select this as your preferred style

Cite Them Right

An additional resource is the Cite Them Right website which offers guidance on constructing your citations and references in the Harvard style.

Plagiarism and referencing support

During Michaelmas Term we give a lecture on avoiding plagiarism and the importance of referencing. The slides from this lecture were sent to your course team, and should be available via learn.jbs.

The Information & Library Services team are available to advise you on all aspects of referencing and plagiarism. If you have questions, please do get in touch with us.