
Unit 10 - Numerical Referencing
Using OSCOLA: Why do I need to cite?
Being able to accurately cite the source you have used in your work is an important academic skill.
Including citations in your work:
- Provides the relevant legal authority to support your work.
- Enables the reader to find the sources you have used.
- Helps you to avoid plagiarism as you are acknowledging where you have used other people's work or ideas.
- Demonstrates the range of research and variety of sources you used while preparing your work.
- Strengthens and supports your arguments by providing evidence from reliable and trustworthy resources.
Whenever you paraphrase or quote a source or use the ideas of another person, you need to cite.
- Insert a footnote marker after the full stop at the end of the sentence or after the word or phrase to which it relates.
- At the bottom of the page, note the footnote number and give the full citation.
- End the footnote with a full stop.
Number your footnotes continuously through your document, starting at 1. Here's how to use word to create footnotes.
Have a look at the example of a correctly referenced piece of text on the next page, then use the links in the panel on the left to find details of how to cite specific types of sources.
SMILE - OSCOLA referencing by Cathie Jackson, Ian Bradley, Matthew Davies and Lynn Goodhew, Information Services, Cardiff University adapted by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at https://ilrb.cf.ac.uk/citingreferences/oscola/tutorial/.