Reference list

What is a reference list?

All publications that you use must be listed at the end of your article or report: the reference list. This can also be called a source list or a reading list. The source list is a complete list of publications used. The quotes and paraphrases in your text refer to the source list. See: Citing and Paraphrasing. In the list of sources, you sort all references by the author’s last name.

Please note that publications you have not used may not be included in your source list!

Why a reference list?

With the help of the source list, a reader of your report can see at a glance which publications you have used. The reader can check what you have come up with yourself and what you have borrowed from another writer. See: Plagiarism.

With a list of sources, you can also point the reader to other publications on the same subject.

The reverse is also true, of course. If you are looking for information on a topic, it is always useful to go through the source list of a book or article. See Searching

Design of the reference list

A source list can be designed in different ways. There are various styles for this. Most programmes at NHL Stenden require sources to be cited in accordance with APA rules. By far the majority of universities of applied sciences use the APA manual: De APA–

Examples

Here are various examples of different types of publications.

Books

Draaisma, D. (2016). Als mijn geheugen me niet bedriegt. Groningen: Historische uitgeverij.

More information?

If you want to know more on APA, click here .