Referencing and Citation Guide

A citation is a reference to any resource — book, journal article, eBook, Encyclopaedia entry, internet site, etc. — which has been used as a research reference for a student assessment. These resources will need to be listed at the end of your assessment tasks as a bibliography. There are many styles of referencing. All SCAS subjects use Harvard style referencing which is the standard at many Australian Universities including the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University.

Year 7 to 10 (Stage 4 and 5) students should include only the top 3 to 5 most useful sources they used. Year 11 and 12 (Stage 6) students will be provided with the expectations for their assessment tasks as required on faculty assessment notifications. All reference lists should be alphabetical by author’s surname (or title of work if no author).

The Harvard Referencing style

In-text citation:

It consists mainly of the authors' last name and the year of publication (and page numbers if it is directly quoted) in round brackets placed within the text. If there is no discernible author, the title and date are used.

Reference list:

The reference list should:

• Be ordered alphabetically by the last name of the first author of each work. References with no author are ordered alphabetically by the first significant word of the title. 
• Use only the initials of the authors' given names. 
• No full stop and space between the initials. Last name comes first.

Here is an example that cites a book with one author using Harvard style:

Referencing Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Documentation and Citation:

• When utilising AI tools or resources in their assessment tasks, students must clearly document the specific tools used, the methodologies applied, and any assistance obtained from AI platforms.
• Proper citation practices should be followed to acknowledge the contributions of AI in the research process or data analysis, similar to citing other sources or references.
• Students must specify the nature and extent of the AI's contribution (e.g., brainstorming, paraphrasing, editing)

Image Generative AI (such as Dall-E or Adobe Firefly)

Include:

• the developer of the AI tool
• the name of the tool
• what prompt was entered for that image
• the date that the image was generated.

If you need to reference multiple prompts, add a letter of the alphabet to the end of the year in your in-text reference and bibliography, e.g. (Open AI, 2023a). This is so your prompts can be clearly connected to the reference.

Text Generative AI (such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini)

Include:

• the developer of the AI tool
• the name of the tool
• what prompt was entered for that information
• the date that the information was generated.

If you need to reference multiple prompts, add a letter of the alphabet to the end of the year in your in-text reference and bibliography, e.g. (Open AI, 2023a). This is so your prompts can be clearly connected to the reference.

Referencing Resources

The University of New South Wales referencing page outlines how to cite different kinds of sources using the Harvard Referencing method. This page reflects the standard that is used for all SCAS assessment tasks.

Students may wish to use the Cite This For Me site to assist them while developing a bibliography for their assessment.