Referencing is a practice of acknowledging other peoples works, ideas, sources used in a paper, assignment, report and conference papers in academic writing.
A referencing style is the preferred format for creating references to sources of information. Format includes the order of elements of a reference as well as punctuation. Unfortunately there is no universal style and every discipline and journal has its own preferred style.
The referencing style generally used is based on the Harvard style. The Agricultural Plant Sciences use the Crop Science style. Below is a link to a brief version of the UKZN Harvard style.
Turnitin is an internet based tool used to check and detect plagiarism in an essay or any kind of academic related document. Its a licensed based software which universities and schools obtain through subscription. You need to register on Turnitin but get a code from your lecturer/supervisor first.
Plagiarism is not just about copying a classmate's assignment but also taking someone else's ideas and writings from books, journals and websites and pretending they are your own. In the academic environment it is essential to indicate where you got your information and ideas from - your lecturers want to see what you have read.
UKZN has a license to the Endnote software. This programme is loaded in all lans and can also be downloaded from the UKZN software library onto private laptops and computers. Endnote allows you to create your own library of references as well as create a bibliography in a range of styles. Whilst writing a Word document it is possible to create the intext references and at the same time create the bibliography. Endnote X7 is the latest version. There are tutorials and useful 'frequently asked questions' on the Endnote site: www.endnote.com